Nayagaon rape case: All 14 accused acquitted

Five years after the Nayagaon rape case came to light, the Court of District and Sessions Judge...

Five years after the Nayagaon rape case came to light, the Court of District and Sessions Judge, Ropar, U S Gera, acquitted all the 14 accused in the case, including a suspended sub-inspector of Mohali Police and a woman.

The acquittal comes after the ‘victim’ and her parents deposed in the court that the girl was never raped.

The 14-year-old ‘victim’, daughter of a Punjab Police driver, had delivered a child in PGI on February 28, 2003. The girl in her statement to the police had alleged that she had been raped by five men.

Story continues below this ad

On March 7, 2003, a case on charges of rape and furtherance of common intention was registered against five persons by the Mohali Police on the basis of information furnished by Assistant Sub Inspector Gurjit Kaur, Police Post, PGI Chandigarh. The case named Ramkesh alias Panch,Kesar Singh, Gurdhian Singh, Kanwar Inder Pal Singh alias Rinku and Avtar Singh alias Tari as accused.

A case of rape was also registered by the Chandigarh Police on the same day (March 7, 2003) as the girl had alleged that she was also raped by five persons in Chandigarh. Those booked in Chandigarh were Ramkesh, Gurdhian, Kesar Singh, Sham Lal and Ramgir.

The case took a curious turn when a petition demanding quashing of the FIR was filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The petition claimed that the girl was never raped. However, another petition falsifying the previous one, was filed in the HC soon after. It claimed that the previous petition was filed under threat and alleged that the police had connived with the accused.

Acting on the petition, the High Court ordered the constitution of a Special Investigating Team on May 31, 2005 headed by IG Sumedh Saini (who is at present Director, Vigilance Bureau).

Story continues below this ad

SIT then arrested 20 persons, including a principal correspondent of The Indian Express, Gautam Dheer.

Saini resigned from the team after the then Director General of Police (DGP), Punjab, S S Virk, criticised Saini for arresting Dheer.

Later, the Punjab government made it clear that Dheer was not involved in the case. IG Suresh Arora was then appointed as the new head of SIT. The Mohali police thereafter framed charges against 14 persons.

Defence counsel Advocate Manoj Kumar said the accused were acquitted since there was no material or corroborative evidence on record against them.