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Senior advocate Indira Jaising won’t represent activist Talib Hussain accused of rape

Talib Hussain, the activist in question, had championed the cause of the Kathua rape victim, and had successfully shifted the trial in the case out of the state of Jammu and Kashmir

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Senior advocate Indira Jaising on Monday refused to appear for the family of a social activist, upon learning that the man whom she was defending had been accused of rape by a student from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in the #MeToo movement.

Talib Hussain, the activist in question, had championed the cause of the Kathua rape victim, and had successfully shifted the trial in the case out of the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Known for her support to the #MeToo uprising by women against perpetrators of sexual abuse, Jaising had been tweeting vigorously, asking women to stand up and shame the culprits who dared to abuse women.

But tables turned on her when a recent news report carried the statement of a JNU student accusing Hussain of raping her. Incidentally, Jaising appeared for Hussain's cousin Mumtaz Ahmed Khan in a separate rape case charged against him by the Jammu and Kashmir Police on July 28, 2018, on a complaint by his estranged wife.

Jaising had argued that the police framed Hussain in a false case for espousing the cause of the Kathua rape victim.

But with the latest disclosure, Jaising distanced herself from Hussain and asked her briefing lawyer Sunil Fernandez to intimate the same before the court. On Monday, when the case came up before a bench of Justices Kurian Joseph and AM Khanwilkar, Fernandez sought discharge from the case. The court granted the request and directed the petitioner to be present in court on November 13.

Meanwhile, the state government informed that Hussain had been released on bail, thus making the petition infructuous.

It is interesting to note that Hussain, who now faces two allegations of rape, was one of the petitioners who espoused the cause of the eight-year old Kathua rape victim. Hussain belongs to the Bakarwal community to which the victim belonged.

On his petition, the apex court on May 7, 2018 shifted the trial from the district and sessions judge, Kathua to Pathankot in Punjab.

WHO IS TALIB?

Talib Hussain, who faces two allegations of rape, was one of the key activists in the Kathua rape case, and successfully managed to get the case moved out of Jammu and Kashmir

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