A special court in Aligarh has sentenced five convicts to life imprisonment for kidnapping a Dalit woman in 2007 to prevent her from testifying in a rape case. However, even after 19 years, no trace of the abducted victim has been found.
Uttar Pradesh: A special SC/ST court in Aligarh has sentenced five convicts to life imprisonment in a 2007 kidnapping case. These perpetrators abducted a 19-year-old Dalit woman solely to prevent her from testifying in a rape case. The court termed it a deliberate conspiracy to eliminate a key witness and derail the trial. However, the most tragic aspect is that despite nearly two decades of extensive search and investigation, the victim has still not been found.
The perpetrators of this horrific crime are now between 40 and 50 years old. All of them were convicted and sentenced under Section 364 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deals with kidnapping with intent to murder, and Section 3(2)(v) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Delivering the verdict in this important case on Thursday, Special Judge II (SC/ST Act) Pratibha Saxena made a sharp remark. She noted that even after 19 years, the abducted girl has not been recovered. The court clarified that any undue sympathy in such serious cases would embolden the criminals and discourage victims and witnesses from coming forward.
This tragic incident began on September 28, 2007. That day, the victim’s father filed a police complaint, stating that the accused had entered their village home in Aligarh district armed with weapons. These men, armed with country-made pistols, included Amar Singh, Lekhraj, Babulal, Suresh, and Usha Devi, all from Hathras. According to the father, these men forcibly abducted his daughter so that she could not testify against the accused in her own rape case.
During the trial, the prosecution presented seven witnesses. Government lawyers strongly argued in court that the accused deliberately targeted this Dalit family to intimidate them and obstruct the course of justice.
On Friday, Special Public Prosecutor Chaman Kumar Sharma shared a shocking fact while providing information about the case. He explained that the accused had been acquitted in the rape case related to this kidnapping earlier this year. The main reason for this was that the victim never appeared in court and the remaining witnesses recanted their statements. The father filed this kidnapping case just six months after the rape case was filed.
Now, in this kidnapping case, the court has sentenced each of the accused to life imprisonment under Section 364 of the Indian Penal Code and the SC/ST Act, along with a fine of ₹10,000 for each offense. Meanwhile, a co-accused named Satish Pandey was acquitted due to lack of sufficient evidence.
The accused pleaded for leniency in court, but the judge flatly rejected it. The court’s decision sent a strong message that the justice system must assure the vulnerable and vulnerable sections of society that crimes against them will result in the harshest punishment, no matter how influential the accused are.
Rajan Chaudhary
Courtesy: Hindi News