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Powai rape victim's mother lauded for probe effort

It is normal for courts to praise the efforts of investigating officers and of the prosecution. However, this is a rare case in which the court has appreciated and put on record the role played by a civilian in gathering evidence against the accused.

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The Powai rape victim's mother has come in for praise for playing a significant role in the investigation, and in some aspects, even doing better than the police.

It is normal for courts to praise the efforts of investigating officers and of the prosecution. However, this is a rare case in which the court has appreciated and put on record the role played by a civilian in gathering evidence against the accused.

On Thursday, judge Vrushali Joshi of the special women's court held Pramod Kumar Upadhyay, a security guard, guilty of rape and robbery charges and sentenced him to 10 years rigorous imprisonment. "Without the mother, it would have been very difficult to get a conviction in this case," said Special Public Prosecutor Vaibhav Bagade.

DNA accessed Joshi's 99-page judgement, in which she observed that the victim's mother helped the prosecution gather evidence by seeking the CCTV footage of her building. The CCTV footage was crucial in establishing the heinous crime.

The court held that "considering the heinous crime committed by the security guard, who is appointed for the protection of society, he himself has committed offence on the defenseless lady. Instead of helping her, he has committed the offence. Hence, there is no question of showing leniency".

"Considering the facts and circumstances and considering the henious act committed by the accused, the sentencing of ten years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) under the charges of rape and seven years of RI under the charges of robbery, would meet the ends of justice."

The judgement also referred to the pain of the mother, who broke down on being told about the dastardly act. However, despite being away in Jakarta at the time of the incident, the mother displayed presence of mind and courage when she instructed her elder daughter to rush the victim to the hospital, while she herself called the Mumbai police from Jakarta and informed them about the incident.

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