Finally Pir acquitted of rape charges

SYED BASHARAT. Dated: 2/13/2015 1:57:37 PM

Prosecution failed miserably to prove his guilt: Court

SRINAGAR, Feb 12: A Budgam Court today acquitted Gulzar Ahmad Bhat alias Gulzar Pir who was arrested in May 2013 by police for allegedly raping several young girls at his “fake” seminary in Budgam district.
42-year-old Pir was arrested on May 21, 2013 after four minor girl students of his seminary accused him of committing the abuses at the residential institute at Shamasabad in Khansahib area of the district.
After a trial of over 19 months, Syed Tawqeer Hussain, the Principal District and Session’s Judge Budgam passed a 158 pages judgment concluding that the prosecution has miserably failed to prove the guilt of the accused in the matter.
Besides Pir, the Court acquitted three more girls who were accused of being accomplices of Pir. During the course of trial, all the accused in the matter were represented by senior lawyer Mushtaq Ahmad Dar.
“What emerges from the entire discussion is clear that there has been an inordinate delay in lodging the FIR with the police concerned and the said delay has not been explained by the prosecution…The seizure memo has not been proved as all the three witnesses cited by the prosecution on the seizure memo have turned hostile and in the cross examination have denied that anything was seized in their presence,” the court has said in its judgment.
The court has said that the medical evidence does not connect the accused with the commission of offence. “The girls have been referred to radiological and dental checkup but no such report has been placed on record by the prosecution. The age of these girls have not been proved. The expert opinion also does not connect the accused with the commission of offence.”
The court has said that the four compliant girls in the application have not named anybody except Pir but while recording their statements under section 164-A CrPC have named the other accused persons who were not put to the identification parade before the complainants.
“Viewed thus the prosecution in the above backdrop has miserably failed to prove the guilt against the accused persons beyond any shadow of doubt as is mandatory under criminal jurisprudence. As such the accused number 1 (Pir), 3, 5 and 6 are held entitled to be acquitted and are acquitted accordingly, from the charges levelled against them in the present case,” the court has said in its judgment.
The accused 3, 5 and 6 (name withheld) have been relieved from their bail and personal bonds. “In charge superintendent central jail is directed to release the accused number 1 forthwith provided he is not involved in any other case,” the judge has directed.

 

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