Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Dec 10: On Human Rights Day, Fast Track Court presided over by 2nd Additional Sessions Judge Srinagar Tahir Khurshid Raina has decided 14 years old Magam sex scandal case, which was initially investigated by Magam Police in 2004 but later investigated by CBI on the directions of State High Court in the year 2006.
Fast Track Court convicted three accused out of ten in the case which includes husband and wife namely Tariq Ahmad Malla and Nuzhat Nasreen, who belong to Narwara area of Srinagar but were putting up at Lajpat Nagar New Delhi in the year 2003.
They were doing illegal and immoral trade by pushing the teenage, illiterate and very poor girls of Kashmir into flesh trade in various hotels at Delhi . These girls were sent to them by Sajad Hussain, son of Syed Mohammad Hussain of Magam Budga, who allured these girls by giving them a promise of employment as domestic aid but exploited their sheer innocence, backwardness and abject poverty as stand proved by the court in its lengthy judgment.
Court while showing its extreme disgust for the perpetrators of the crime observed, “those who were taken as saviours of daughters of Kashmir proved their tormentors”, adding “though many efforts are being made for ensuring a better and secured social milieu for girl child but keeping in view the crime index, lot more is required to be done by all the stake holders of the society”.
All the three accused were convicted and sentenced for commission of offences under Sections 366-A , 372 , 376/ 109, 120- B RPC & 3/4/5 of Immoral Traffic Prevention Act.
On the issue of sentence, court observed, “punishment to be awarded has also to be given in context of interest of society as a whole and especially of that from where these accused & victim come from”, adding “neither it looks to be a persecution nor as a jest but quite appropriate matching with the gravity of the offence committed”.
Accordingly, court awarded 10 years Rigorous Imprisonment along with other sentences ranging from 7 to 3 years with fine of different amount in various other offences for which the accused got convicted. All the sentences awarded to run concurrently, court held.
The court also recommended two victims in the case a compensation amount of Rupees one lakh each under “Victims Compensation Scheme” to be paid by District legal Services Authority Srinagar .
Very emotional moments were witnessed in the jam packed Fast Track Court when the judge readout the order of sentence and dedicated it to the “daughters of J&K”.
In August 2004, the CID wing of the State Police had unearthed a sex racket. Investigation was taken up and a case was registered against kingpin Sabina (now dead), her husband, four girls and three businessmen on October 14, 2004, at MR Gung Police Station.
As no lawyers appeared for the accused in Sabina sex scandal case in Srinagar on the instructions of the Bar Association, in September 2006 Supreme Court directed the case proceedings to be shifted to Chandigarh where a final verdict was pronounced in May this year.
However, 10 accused in the Magam case didn’t file any transfer petition before the court and the trial continued before the Fast Track Court Srinagar.
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