Survivor ‘Untraceable’, High Court grants bail to Rape Accused

A 36-year-old man accused of abducting & gang-raping a minor girl in the year 2015 was granted bailed by the Aurangabad bench of Bombay HC on Friday.

The trial in the case had come to a standstill as the prosecution failed to present the survivor or her father before the special court.

The girl, a resident of Pune, had fled to Aurangabad as her father had allegedly got her married to a man against her will. At the central bus stand in Aurangabad she came in contact with two men who on the pretext of helping took her to Naregaon area of the city & allegedly raped her.

After a complaint was filed, on Oct 8, 2015, the duo was arrested on charges of gang rape along with other sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) & Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

One of the suspects, who has been in jail for the past four-and-a-half years, filed a bail application through his lawyer Abhaysinh K Bhosale before the HC. The bail plea came up for final hearing before justice Mangesh S Patil.

Bhosale pleaded the suspect’s to release on bail on the ground of delay in recording evidence of the rape survivor & her father before the special court because their whereabouts wasn't known.

Opposing the bail, additional public prosecutor VM Kagane relied on the report filed by an assistant inspector of the Bundgarden police in Pune on Feb 13 stating that the girl had gone missing from a govt hospital & her whereabouts wasn't known despite making strenuous efforts to trace her.

Kagane added that police inquired with the girl’s paternal uncle & his wife for tracing the girl, but failed. After hearing both sides, justice Patil granted bail to the accused on furnishing a surety of Rs 50,000.

The High Court observed: “Summons were issued to the rape survivor, but she wasn't traceable. The trial proceeded against the accused & some witnesses were examined. The prosecution was directed to take steps for securing the presence of the girl & her father, but they couldn't be traced. The trial against the accused got delayed.”

It added: “The accused is in jail for over four years & instead of shunting the trial abruptly by any other order, propriety demands that the accused be released on bail on certain terms & conditions.”

(The victim's identity hasn't been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)

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