Mumbai: Observingthat evidence of victim and her mother were not cogent, trustworthy and reliable, a special Pocso court on Tuesday acquitted four men charged with the gangrape of a 16-year-old girl in 2014, citing a lack of medical evidence, discrepancies regarding the girl’s age, and unreliable testimony. A fifth accused was discharged from the case and the sixth, a minor is being tried separately.The verdict concluded a trial that spanned over a decade, involving allegations of sexual assault in the Aarey Colony forest after the girl was purportedly forced to consume alcohol by her friends.The court found that the prosecution failed to conclusively prove the girl was a minor at the time of the incident. While she claimed a birth date in 1997, no birth certificate was produced in court, and medical testimony suggested her age could have been 18. Special judge Mahesh K Jadhav observed that the investigating officer did not collect documentary evidence or record statements from the school authorities to verify the age. The judgment noted that “prosecution has failed to prove that on the date of incident, the victim was minor”.The prosecution’s case was that the four men had sexually assaulted her on two consecutive nights in March 2014. However, the court found the girl’s conduct and the timeline of events inconsistent. The judge pointed out that despite claiming to be in pain, she did not inform her parents or seek medical help for several days. “This conduct of the victim itself shows and proves that nothing had happened during the night,” the judge said regarding the first night of the alleged incident.Represented by advocates Amrish Salunke and Durgesh Pandey, the accused denied the allegations. They were out on bail.The prosecution’s case states that the girl, who was residing at a shelter and working as a domestic help, visited her mother’s house in March 2014. On the evening of March 15, 2014, she contacted her friend, one of the accused. She met him and the other accused on a ground in Sher-E-Punjab where they consumed beer. The girl reported feeling giddy and, after being taken to an unknown location on a motorcycle, lost consciousness. She was later dropped back to the ground and returned home to sleep.The following day, March 16, 2014, the girl contacted the same accused again and met the group at the same location in the evening. Despite initial resistance, she consumed beer after being pressured by her friends. She alleged that the group then forced her onto a vehicle and took her to an unspecified location. She was eventually returned to her house at 6am the next morning. On the afternoon of March 17, 2014, the girl woke up experiencing physical pain and suspected she had been sexually assaulted. When she confronted her friend over the phone, he allegedly admitted that the four had engaged in sexual acts with her in a forest. Fearing her father’s reaction and social stigma, she remained silent until March 20, 2014, when she confided in a mentor who took her to the hospital and subsequently to the Meghwadi police station to file a report.However, the judge noted failure in the collection of technical and forensic evidence. Although mobile phones were seized, investigators did not collect Call Data Records (CDR) to verify the communication between the accused and the girl. No CCTV footage was recovered from the areas near the Sher-E-Punjab ground or the route to the forest. “In absence of these above-mentioned proofs, prosecution has failed to connect accused with crime,” the judge said.Medical evidence also failed to support the prosecution’s claims of forcible assault. Doctors deposed that there were no external injuries on the girl’s body, which the judge found unlikely if the incident had occurred in a forested area under babul trees. Chemical analysis reports of the seized clothing and swabs were inconclusive, showing no traces of semen. The judge noted that “medical evidence is not corroborating the version of victim” and that the forensic data was “crucial for establishing the crime” but remained absent.The judge noted that the name of the fourth accused was added to the case months after the initial complaint and the girl failed to identify him during a test identification parade. The judge found that the prosecution provided no explanation for this delay or evidence of his involvement.that evidence of victim and her mother were not cogent, trustworthy and reliable, a special Pocso court on Tuesday acquitted four men charged with the gangrape of a 16-year-old girl in 2014, citing a lack of medical evidence, discrepancies regarding the girl’s age, and unreliable testimony. A fifth accused was discharged from the case and the sixth, a minor is being tried separately.The verdict concluded a trial that spanned over a decade, involving allegations of sexual assault in the Aarey Colony forest after the girl was purportedly forced to consume alcohol by her friends.The court found that the prosecution failed to conclusively prove the girl was a minor at the time of the incident. While she claimed a birth date in 1997, no birth certificate was produced in court, and medical testimony suggested her age could have been 18. Special judge Mahesh K Jadhav observed that the investigating officer did not collect documentary evidence or record statements from the school authorities to verify the age. The judgment noted that “prosecution has failed to prove that on the date of incident, the victim was minor”.The prosecution’s case was that the four men had sexually assaulted her on two consecutive nights in March 2014. However, the court found the girl’s conduct and the timeline of events inconsistent. The judge pointed out that despite claiming to be in pain, she did not inform her parents or seek medical help for several days. “This conduct of the victim itself shows and proves that nothing had happened during the night,” the judge said regarding the first night of the alleged incident.Represented by advocates Amrish Salunke and Durgesh Pandey, the accused denied the allegations. They were out on bail.The prosecution’s case states that the girl, who was residing at a shelter and working as a domestic help, visited her mother’s house in March 2014. On the evening of March 15, 2014, she contacted her friend, one of the accused. She met him and the other accused on a ground in Sher-E-Punjab where they consumed beer. The girl reported feeling giddy and, after being taken to an unknown location on a motorcycle, lost consciousness. She was later dropped back to the ground and returned home to sleep.The following day, March 16, 2014, the girl contacted the same accused again and met the group at the same location in the evening. Despite initial resistance, she consumed beer after being pressured by her friends. She alleged that the group then forced her onto a vehicle and took her to an unspecified location. She was eventually returned to her house at 6am the next morning. On the afternoon of March 17, 2014, the girl woke up experiencing physical pain and suspected she had been sexually assaulted. When she confronted her friend over the phone, he allegedly admitted that the four had engaged in sexual acts with her in a forest. Fearing her father’s reaction and social stigma, she remained silent until March 20, 2014, when she confided in a mentor who took her to the hospital and subsequently to the Meghwadi police station to file a report.However, the judge noted failure in the collection of technical and forensic evidence. Although mobile phones were seized, investigators did not collect Call Data Records (CDR) to verify the communication between the accused and the girl. No CCTV footage was recovered from the areas near the Sher-E-Punjab ground or the route to the forest. “In absence of these above-mentioned proofs, prosecution has failed to connect accused with crime,” the judge said.Medical evidence also failed to support the prosecution’s claims of forcible assault. Doctors deposed that there were no external injuries on the girl’s body, which the judge found unlikely if the incident had occurred in a forested area under babul trees. Chemical analysis reports of the seized clothing and swabs were inconclusive, showing no traces of semen. The judge noted that “medical evidence is not corroborating the version of victim” and that the forensic data was “crucial for establishing the crime” but remained absent.The judge noted that the name of the fourth accused was added to the case months after the initial complaint and the girl failed to identify him during a test identification parade. The judge found that the prosecution provided no explanation for this delay or evidence of his involvement.
