Srinagar Court Acquits Accused in 15-Year-Old Abduction, Rape Case

 

“Prosecution evidence is weak, fragile, crispy”

Mudasir Yaqoob

Srinagar, Sep 2: Observing that prosecution has failed to prove the guilt of an accused, Srinagar Court acquits a man accused of abduction and rape.

 

 

 

After hearing prosecution and defence counsel Advocate Aamir Masoodi, the Court of Second Additional Sessions Judge of Srinagar acquitted Rayees-ul-Islam, a resident of Nowpora Kalan Sopore.

 

 

 

 

The court, presided over by Judge Renu Dogra Gupta, observed that the evidence presented by the prosecution was inconsistent and insufficient to secure a conviction.

 

 

 

The court said that a careful reading of the evidence on record clearly highlights the discrepancies in the prosecution evidence particularly in the statement of the prosecutrix.

 

 

 

“The prosecution evidence is weak, fragile and crispy and does not inspire the confidence in the mind of the court, rather it creates a doubt in the mind of the court and that benefit of doubt will certainly tilt in favour of the accused,” the court said.

 

 

 

 

It added that on the other hand the accused person has succeeded in searching the silver line so as to escape from the clouds of conviction hovering on his head.

 

 

 

 

“Hence the prosecution has not been able to prove its case to the hilt against the accused in the case. To sum up, in the wake of above made discussion after recording the evidence and hearing rival contention of the parties, the prosecution evidence has neither quality nor credibility and also qualitatively and quantitatively insufficient to prove the guilt of accused beyond any pale of doubt,” court added.

 

 

 

The case dates back to September 2009 when a complaint was filed at the Budgam Police Station, alleging that the accused had abducted a minor girl and committed rape.
The police registered the case under FIR No. 423/2009 and charged Rayees-ul-Islam with offenses under Sections 363 and 376 of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC).

 

 

 

 

However, during the trial, the prosecution’s case began to unravel as key witnesses, including the victim’s family members, failed to support the allegations.

 

 

 

 

The victim herself provided contradictory statements, further weakening the prosecution’s case.

The court observed that the prosecution has failed to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt, leading to the acquittal of the accused.