It has been a long battle for justice for a victim of abduction and gangrape, allegedly involving a powerful local politician and nine others. A local court in Bharatpur has sentenced Nisar Khan to life for the abduction and rape of a girl belonging to the backward community. The court has also ordered the summoning of Jalees Ahmad, the husband of parliamentary secretary Zahida Khan, for his alleged involvement in the rape.
It took two years for the victim to get justice. The court of additional district and sessions judge at Deeg under Bharatpur pronounced the judgment on Wednesday and slapped a fine of `1 lakh on Nisar Khan. The victim was 17 years old when she was abducted by six persons on October 20, 2010 when she was collecting firewood with her aunt from the forest area near her village Vilag in Bharatpur district.
According to the prosecution, the victim was taken hostage and the accused kept her at different places and raped her repeatedly for five months. The victim said the police found her but handed her over to the accused again. The victim also named Jalees Ahmad, who is also pradhan of the Kaman Panchayat Samiti, as one of those who raped her. “The police did not mention Jalees under political pressure and filed a chargesheet only against one person. It was the court which ordered that Jalees and his other accomplices be also named in the chargesheet,” the victim’s lawyer Bhagwat Singh said. Mr Ahmad has repeatedly denied the charges and said it was an attempt to tarnish his image for political motives.
The court has directed the additional chief secretary (home) to ensure that the summons are served to Mr Ahmad.
The police claimed it had been unable to serve the summons to Mr Ahmad, though he was part of several delegations meeting high authorities in Jaipur and Delhi on the Gopalgarh violence issue.