Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 2: Principal Sessions Judge Jammu, A K Koul today acquitted a youth namely Naseer Ahmed of Sudhmahadev, his father Abdul Kabir and mother Neema of the charges of rape and kidnapping.
According to the police case, on November 15, 2011 the prosecutrix was kidnapped from Udhampur and brought to Jammu. The accused persons took her to a hotel and coerced her to marry accused Naseer Ahmed. When she refused to do so, Naseer raped her and later confined her in Kachi Chawani area. However, police managed to rescue the girl.
After hearing Public Prosecutor Navneet Gupta for the State whereas Advocate I L Thakur for the accused persons, Principal Sessions Judge observed, “the court is of the considered view that the prosecution story is not credible. There are two possibilities, one that the prosecutrix has given a false statement notwithstanding the fact that she was a consenting party to what happened or the investigating officer has shown the dereliction of duty”.
“In both the eventualities, the conclusion is that the case is a failure and accused have been booked in the case without a reason. So the court is left with no option but to observe that the nexus between the guilt and the accused has not been established”, Principal Sessions Judge said and acquitted the accused of the charges.
Taking serious note of the investigation of case, the Court observed, “the investigation of this case has been conducted in a very casual manner. One cannot imagine that the investigator in a case of this type would show a casual approach and lack of commitment. It needs no emphasis that a charge of rape or kidnapping is such a serious accusation that it deserves an in depth probe so that the truth is brought to light but in this case it is evident that the investigating officer has not shown any seriousness in conducting the investigation fairly”.
“The investigator has not bothered to trace the vehicle in which the prosecutrix was allegedly kidnapped. The vehicle was being driven by someone other than accused but the driver has not been identified. The prosecutrix was allegedly raped in a hotel at Jammu but the investigator could not locate the hotel”, the court said, adding “the prosecutrix was confined in the house of grandfather of accused but grandfather is neither an accused nor a witness. The prosecutrix was recovered from a crowded place at Kachhi Chowni but the witnesses present around were not associated with the process of recovery”.
“It is not known as to how the police party reached the place where prosecutrix was confined. The missing report was registered in Police Station Chenani. The prosecutrix was recovered from Kacchi Chowni Jammu and no one knows how police reached there without their being a known source to guide the police to the place of recovery. All these facts justify the observations of the Court that the role of investigating officer(s) in this case has been casual, questionable, and against the basic tenants of criminal justice system”, Principal Sessions Judge said.
“The irresponsible attitude of the investigating officer(s) of the case has led to very serious consequences. Accused No.1 is in detention right from the date of his arrest and who is going to compensate him for what he has faced. The officers at the helm of affairs in Police Department do need to introspect and address to the issues as to the faulty investigations which are on rise at a dangerous pace and if unchecked such investigation are sure to erode the faith of the people in the criminal justice system”, Principal Sessions Judge further observed.`
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