1 day Ago By Asseem Shaikh
Pune: Bombay high court granted bail to a former soldier and Kargil war veteran in a gang rape case of 2024 on the grounds that the medical report showed no injuries on the survivor though prosecution claimed she was dragged 100 feet. "The prosecution's case is that the rape survivor was dragged and gang raped by the 64-year-old and a co-accused, and her medical examination was done within 24 hours of the incident. But the medical report showed that no injuries were found on her person," a single-judge bench of justice Shivkumar Dige said in his order of April 4.
The prosecution claimed that on Feb 4, 2024, the retired army soldier, along with another person, barged into the residence of a 35-year-old casual worker, dragged her for nearly 100 feet, and sexually assaulted her in a village at Bhor near Pune. Pune rural police filed a chargesheet in the case. The HC said the senior citizen has been behind bars for eight months, and his detention under judicial custody is not essential.
The judge ordered his release on bail upon executing a personal bond of Rs50,000 with one or two sureties of the like amount. The order stated that the accused was directed to report to Rajgad police whenever called by the investigating officer and warned him not to influence the prosecution's witnesses. Defence lawyers Satyam Nimbalkar and Harshwardhan Pawar told TOI, "We complied with the HC bail order condition before the special court in Pune.
The retired army lance naik was released on bail from Yerawada central prison on Friday night." The accused moved the high court after the special court rejected his bail plea on Nov 12, 2024. Lawyers Nimbalkar and Pawar argued that their client and his wife filed a complaint relating to a murder bid against the survivor's employer under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code, and as a counterblast, a false complaint of alleged gang rape was lodged.
The lawyers pleaded to release their client on bail because his two fingers were amputated in the Kargil war, and his detention was not essential in jail. Additional public prosecutor Poonam Bhosale opposed the bail plea on the grounds that the survivor instantly filed a complaint, and there was no reason for her to falsely implicate the accused and co-accused in the case..
