'Violent, Repeated Sexual Abuse': Delhi High Court Denies Bail To Man Accused Of Minor's Rape & Murder

The Delhi High Court has denied bail to a man accused of raping and murdering a minor girl in 2018, noting that the post-mortem report provided "clear medical evidence" which revealed that it was a case of "violent and repeated sexual abuse" of the victim.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma observed that prima facie, the strength of the material, including forensic, electronic, medical, and documentary evidence, weighed heavily against the grant of bail to the accused.

“Thus, for the reasons stated in the preceding discussion, and in view of the gravity of the allegations, the heinous and brutal nature of the offence, and the strong prima facie material linking the applicant to the commission of the crime, this Court finds no ground to grant bail to the applicant at this stage,” the Court said.

However, it directed the Trial Court to expedite recording of evidence in the case as 14 witnesses out of 36 witnesses cited by the prosecution were examined, who had supported the prosecution case.

It was alleged that in 2018, the accused in conspiracy with his wife, lured the minor victim aged around 10-12 years to their house under the guise of giving tuitions for Namaz classes, administered sedatives to her and subjected her to repeated sexual assault.

It was further alleged that, noticing the victim's deteriorating condition, the accused murdered her by smothering.

It was also alleged that the accused disposed of the minor's body in a remote area and attempted to destroy incriminating evidence.

Dismissing his bail plea, Justice Sharma noted that one of the crucial links connecting the accused to the offence was the CCTV footage obtained from near the place where the body was found.

“…the poly bags recovered from the accused's house were found to be similar in composition and appearance to those used to carry the clothes of the victim and dumped at the scene, as per expert opinion from the Physics Division of FSL,” the Court said.

It said that the genital injuries, including vaginal and anal tears and ecchymosis, were noted, consistent with violent and repeated sexual abuse of the minor and that the timing and nature of the injuries also aligned with timeline of the victim's disappearance and the subsequent events.

“Viewed cumulatively, the circumstances form a tight and coherent evidentiary chain: the last seen evidence of the victim entering the house of the accused i.e. the statement of her mother, the CCTV footage showing his movements with a suitcase to the area where the body was dumped, the recovery of articles at his instance, and the FSL confirmation of the similarity between the items found at the dumping site and those recovered from the accused's residence, all point towards his direct and active role in the commission of the offence,” the Court concluded.

Title: RAJAB ALI KHAN v. STATE OF NCT OF DELHI

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