Allahabad HC grants bail to Samajwadi Party leader in Ayodhya gang rape case

Lucknow, Oct 16 (PTI) The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court on Thursday granted bail to Samajwadi Party leader Moid Ahmad, accused in the alleged 2024 gang rape of a 12-year-old girl in Ayodhya.

A single bench of Justice Pankaj Bhatia passed the order on the bail plea of Ahmad.

The accused pleaded that he was falsely implicated in the case for political reasons. In his plea, Ahmad also said he is 71-year-old and that the victim's statements and the FIR did not mention the exact date and time of the incident.

The plea also said that the girl (rape survivor) and her mother had already been examined in the case, hence there was no question of influencing the witnesses now.

While opposing the bail plea on behalf of the state government, it was said that the accused and his accomplice Raju Khan also made a video of the alleged brutality with the girl, and the mobile phone from which the video was made was recovered by the police.

After hearing arguments from both sides, the court said it was not commenting on the evidence at this time.

The court had rejected Ahmad's bail plea earlier this month, but permitted him to move fresh bail plea once the victim and the complainant were examined .

The bail plea of another accused in the case, Raju Khan, was also listed for hearing on Thursday, but could not be heard due to paucity of time.

On July 30, 2024, the Ayodhya police arrested Ahmad, who ran a bakery in Bhadarsa Nagar in Purakalandar police station area of the district, and his employee Raju Khan for allegedly raping the 12-year-old girl and recording the act.

The district administration had bulldozed a shopping complex in Ayodhya belonging to Ahmad. PTI COR ABN KVK KVK