A day after the Punjab and Haryana High Court issued notice to Haryana DGP on a petition filed by a 14-year-old rape survivor from the State, alleging that she was sexually harassed and forced to strip by male police officers in Kaithal town during investigation, the Haryana government on Tuesday ordered an inquiry into the charge.

“This matter is extremely serious... we have ordered an inquiry into the allegation levelled by the girl,” Ram Niwas, Additional Secretary (Home) told The Hindu.

“Such an incident is unacceptable and whosoever is found guilty will get a severe punishment...Guilty won't be spared,” he said.

In the petition, filed through her father, the girl alleged that as a part of the investigation, after she was raped — the police personnel asked her to unbutton herself and touched her on the pretext of checking whether she was raped. She also alleged that even after submitting a complaint to the DGP regarding the sexual harassment, no action was taken or FIR was registered against the police men concerned.

It was on November 20, 2016 that the girl filed a rape case with the police. During the investigation, on November 23, the police took her to the crime investigation agency in Kaithal and sexually harassed her, says the girl in her petition.