Court says the allegations against the accused are heinous and can invite punishment of ‘imprisonment for life or even death’
Srinagar:A trial Court at Srinagar rejected bail plea of an accused for the third time who is alleged to have committed rape upon a minor girl.
The Presiding Officer for the protection of children from sexual offences (POCSO) Act, Aarti Mohan, said the allegations against the accused are heinous. She stated that the crimes are very serious and can invite punishment of ‘imprisonment for life or even death.’
“In case accused is admitted to bail at this stage, there is every apprehension that he may hop over the same. This would frustrate the trial of the case,” Mohan said while denying the bail.
The applicant/accused had moved bail applications earlier on two occasions. These applications were rejected vide orders dated 11 July, 2023 and 05 December, 2023, respectively.
The Police report states that on 21 September 2022, police station ,Panthachowk Srinagar received a written complainant alleging therein that a minor was sexually assaulted by four persons namely Ruhail Farooq, Ubaid, Waseem and Tariq all residents of Khanmoh.
It was also alleged that one of the accused namely Ubaid who was in a friendly relationship with the minor girl was blackmailing the victim along with other three accused persons with some photographs of the victim.
On receiving this information case FIR No. 96/2022 u/s 376-D, 506 IPC and section 3/4 of POCSO Act was registered.
The police, after completing the investigation, registered the offences u/s 376-D, 392, 354(C), 352, 342, 506, and 120-B IPC. Section 5/6 of the POCSO Act was also prima facie established. Section 67-B (e) of the IT Act was prima facie established against the accused persons. The challan was presented against them on 15 December, 2022.
It is worthwhile to mention here that the accused- Ruhail was charged on 09, March 2023. The charges were for the commission of offence u/s 376-D, 392, 352, 342, 506 IPC. They also included section 5/6 of POCSO Act.
The accused denied the charges against him. Therefore, the prosecution was directed to lead evidence in support of its case. The prosecution, following the court’s direction, examined the victim on 12, May 2023. They also examined the other witnesses, except the Investigation officer and official witnesses.