Delhi court discharges 9 accused in 2023 minor's gangrape case

New Delhi, Nov 6 (PTI) A Delhi court has discharged nine accused in a case against them for offences including gangrape and committing penetrative sexual assault on a minor, saying they could not be put on trial based on "mere suspicion".

Additional Sessions Judge Amit Sahrawat also directed the recovery of an amount of Rs 3.75 lakh that was granted as interim compensation to the girl.

The Delhi Police had filed a chargesheet against the nine accused, including a woman, saying they had committed the offences against the girl after kidnapping her and taking her to Ghaziabad on September 25, 2023.

According to the prosecution, the victim was staying on a temple premises and the accused were members of the temple management.

In an order dated September 27, made available recently, the court said, "In each and every statement, the victim and her mother have continuously changed their versions, and these contradictions are so substantial that one statement negates the other." It said both called the police emergency number on September 23, 2023 regarding the alleged offences but later, settled the matter, saying it was a dispute between the management and them as the management was forcing them to vacate the property.

The court said on October 4, the girl's mother gave a complaint against 15 people and during investigation, police found evidence that some of the accused were not even present in Delhi at the time of the alleged crime.

"When the victim's mother came to know about this fact, then after a delay of about eight months, she gave a new complaint with new names, and this continuous change in versions makes the statements of the victim and her mother unreliable," it said.

Taking note of the prosecution's allegation that the incident of gangrape and other offences were recorded on the mobile phone of the victim's mother, the court said when the device was sent for a forensic examination, "shockingly", no such video was found.

The court said there were "serious doubts" on the prosecution's case.

"The circumstances are not sufficient to raise a grave suspicion upon the accused persons and it is a case of mere suspicion. It is a settled principle of law that in a situation of mere suspicion, the accused persons cannot be put to trial," the court said, discharging them.

Noting that no offence had taken place, the court directed the secretary of the Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DLSA) "to initiate recovery proceedings of interim compensation (of an amount of Rs 3.75 lakh) from the victim", which was awarded to her by the court in August 2024.

The case against the accused was registered under various penal provisions, including those for gangrape, assaulting a woman to outrage her modesty, disrobing a woman, house trespass, kidnapping, and under section 4 (penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. PTI MNR RC