New Delhi: A Delhi court on Wednesday acquitted all the accused in a 2009 acid attack case, citing lack of “substantial evidence” and serious gaps in the investigation, in a setback to the 16-year struggle by the survivor for justice. Additional sessions judge (north) Jagmohan Singh acquitted three accused — Yashvinder Malik, Mandeep Mann, and Bala — who were charged with conspiring to carry out the acid attack on the victim, then aged 23.
The court held that the prosecution had failed to establish their roles beyond reasonable doubt and the material on record was insufficient for a conviction. The acquittal came weeks after Supreme Court on Dec 6 expressed shock that the survivor did not receive closure even after 16 years, calling the delay a “mockery of the system”. The case relates to an acid attack in 2009 in Haryana’s Panipat. The woman had moved to the city after securing employment as a student counsellor in a college owned by one of the men, Yashvinder Malik. She had also enrolled in an MBA programme at Punjab Technical University. According to the prosecution, she was subjected to harassment, threats and assault at her workplace, following which she decided to resign. The prosecution alleged that 11 days before she was to leave the job, Malik, along with his wife Bala, conspired with two university students — Mandeep Mann and a juvenile — to target the victim. The woman filed an FIR on Nov 20, 2009. However, police filed an “untraced” report in March 2010. The case was revived in 2013 after the survivor approached Haryana govt and gave details of her ordeal and mounting medical expenses. Acting on her plea, CJM Parminder Kaur reopened the matter. In 2014, the trial was transferred to Delhi on Supreme Court’s directions. Charges against the adult accused were framed in 2015. While the juvenile, who carried out the acid attack, was convicted by the Juvenile Justice Board on Dec 17, 2015, the adult accused faced trial for aggravated sexual assault, criminal intimidation and attempt to culpable homicide. Though Delhi High Court discharged the adult accused in 2016, Supreme Court restored the trial in 2017.
