A local court here on Thursday canceled the interim bail of a rape accused on the charges of harassing the victim and pressuring her to withdraw the case against him.
Khalid Habib Hajam s/o HabibullahHajam of Brainal village ofQazigund who is accused of abduction and rape of a fourteen year old minorschool going girl was granted bail in February this year.
However, the family of the rape victim filed a complaint ofharassment with police station Qazigund accusing Hajam of criminal intimidationand harassment.
Subsequently, police booked him further in case FIR no.63/2019 US 354 D/341/RPC.
Consequently, the victim family approached the court ofadditional district session judge Anantnag with a plea that the bail of theaccused be canceled.
The application was admitted and the government in turnappointed Advocate Syed SuhailHaqani as special public prosecutor.
During the course of arguments, the counsel for thecomplainant as well as the special PP argued in favor of cancellation ofinterim bail granted to accused for violating the terms and conditions putforth.
“The accused has ruined the life of the victim and spoiledher educational career after getting this concession. He is even harassing thevictim by forcing her to withdraw the case against him,” they stated.
The counsel for the accused, however, termed the chargesagainst him as a conspiracy aimed at cancelation of interim bail.
He argued that four months on, the chargesheet into the caseis yet to be filed and that the FIR is not a substantial piece of evidence toprove the guilt of the accused.
“The accused should be afforded an opportunity to prove hisinnocence through a proper trial,” he said while praying for upholding hisbail.
After hearing both sides, the additional district sessionsjudge, Khalil Ahmad Chaudhary, passed the order of canceling the interim bailof the accused.
“The accused is already involved in a heinous offense whichif proved after the culmination of the trial would involve the punishment often years or even life imprisonment. The interim bail has been granted withcertain conditions. However, the policereport indicates that the individual liberty of the victim has got curtailedwith the accused obstructing her way to school besides taking criminal recoursewith intent to outrage her modesty,” the judge observed.
“In these circumstances, I am not inclined not to extend theconcession of bail any more in favor of the accused as it would thwart thecourse of justice. The case laws produced by the counsel of the accused are notcoherent with the facts and circumstance of the present case. So, theapplication seeking cancellation of interim bail in favor of the accused isallowed and the interim bail granted in favor of accused is canceled,” thejudge ordered.