2 weeks Ago By Asseem Shaikh
Pune: A Pune court , presided over by special judge SN Narwade, denied bail to an army havildar accused of rape under the pretext of marriage. The court deemed his arrest lawful and concluded that he concealed his existing marriage to sexually exploit the complainant. The 35-year-old havildar, from the Maratha Light Infantry (then stationed in Jaipur), was arrested by the Bharati Vidyapeeth police on March 18, 2024, following the victim's complaint.
He hails from Kagal taluka in Kolhapur district, and is currently held in judicial custody at Yerawada Central Jail. The accused, through his counsel, sought bail on the grounds that the reason for arresting him was not communicated to him in writing under the provisions of section 47 (1) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita. He also took the defence of consensual sex for seeking bail because the accused and survivor are known to each other.
Special public prosecutor Bharati Kadam, assisted by the survivor's lawyer Ketankumar Jadhav, had argued that the accused had knowledge of his arrest after his anticipatory bail plea was rejected. Secondly, the police arrested and produced him before the chief judicial magistrate court at Jaisalmer in Rajasthan for a transit remand where he was given information about his arrest. Thirdly, the chargesheet filed against him showed that the police communicated reasons for arresting him in writing.
The court relied on the chargesheet and other evidence to show that the accused was furnished with the information relating to his arrest when the army authorities handed over his custody to the police. Stay updated with the latest city news , Air Quality Index (AQI), and weather updates for major cities like Delhi , Mumbai , Noida , and Bangalore on Times of India ..
