Terming the offence “serious and heinous”, a Delhi court recently dismissed the bail application of an accused in a case where a 20-year-old woman was allegedly abducted, gang-raped, tonsured and publicly shamed by her neighbours in east Delhi’s Kasturba Nagar on January 26 this year.
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“Considering the nature of the case, the gravity of the offence, the allegations against the accused, and the overall facts and circumstances of the case, I do not deem it a fit case to grant bail to the applicant,” Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat, Karkardooma court, said in his order.
During the hearing, the defence lawyer told the court that his client should be granted bail as he had been falsely implicated in the case. He said neither did the accused’s name figure in the FIR nor was he arrested immediately after the incident. The call data records also do not indicate his presence at the crime scene, the lawyer said.
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Meanwhile, the prosecution alleged that the accused restrained police officers who had arrived at the spot to rescue the victim. The prosecution said the accused abused and molested the victim while she was being paraded with a blackened face and a garland of shoes around her neck.
‘Revenge for kin’s death’
According to the police’s 762-page chargesheet, the accused’s family members wanted to “kill the victim and take revenge for the death of their relative”. The woman was allegedly in a relationship with a man from the accused’s family. He was purportedly found dead last year and the family members blamed the woman for his death.
The police have so far booked 12 women and four men in connection with the case. Five juveniles — three boys and two girls — have also been named in the chargesheet.