A 47-year-old, who was arrested by LT Marg police for allegedly raping his 19-year-old mentally challenged niece, was recently granted bail by the Bombay High Court (HC). A single bench presided over by Justice Sadhana Jadhav, while granting bail, held that there was a delay on the part of the police to register an FIR and there is no plausible explanation for the arrest.
The case dates back to May 8, 2013, when the LT Marg police station received a message that a mentally challenged girl was allegedly assaulted at her home and was sent to GT hospital for treatment. When the police reached GT hospital, they were informed that the victim was referred to Cama and Albless Hospital. The victim's neighbour, who had accompanied her along with a social worker, informed the hospital authorities that the victim was in a state of trauma. The police claimed they could not record her statement on the incident considering her situation.
The medical authorities from Cama Hospital informed the police that as per the preliminary tests, it appeared that she was assaulted. "The victim had multiple injuries over her body. She also had nasal bleeding," claimed medical authorities.
After three days, the police registered a case of molestation against an unknown person. However, a day after police registered the FIR, the victim's brother recorded a statement, where he mentioned that he had seen the accused coming out from the room in which the victim was locked.
After recording the statement, the police immediately arrested the accused. However, as the molestation charge was a bailable, he was granted bail. The victim's medical reports confirmed that the presence of semen leading to alteration of charge from molestation to rape. Meanwhile, police approached the court seeking permission for cancellation of bail of the accused in order to conduct inquiry under rape charges.
The court granted permission to the police to take appropriate action. However, without any prior formal notice, the accuse was arrested on December 16, 2013 and he was behind bars since then.
The accused then sought bail from the Lower and Sessions court but both the courts rejected it. Finally, he approached the HC. After going through the arguments, the HC granted him bail. Also, medical tests proved that the semen did not belong to him
Advocates Ayaz Khan and Zehra Charania, who were appearing on behalf of the accused claimed, "One of the major grounds on which the accused was granted bail was that he was kept in detention illegally for almost six months. Medical tests proved that he was not the rapist."
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