Delhi court grants bail to 38-year-old retired army man in rape case

 

 

The victim's mother who was present in court told the judge not to grant the accused bail citing serious threats to her security and considering that she was living alone with her son at the moment.

A Delhi court granted bail to a 38-year-old retired army subedar for allegedly posing as a policeman and raping a 19-year-old woman at a park in southwest Delhi.

Additional Sessions Judge Lokesh Kumar Sharma granted bail to accused Rajesh Kumar Malik who used to contractually works with the Haryana government’s sports department as a wrestling coach.

The court took note of Malik’s lawyer Ravi Drall’s arguments that the public witnesses have already been examined in this case and admitted the accused to bail on his furnishing personal bond of Rs 25,000. Malik has been directed not to visit the locality of the prosecutrix in the range of 500 metres or contact her family.

The victim’s mother who was present in court told the judge not to grant the accused bail citing serious threats to her security and considering that she was living alone with her son at the moment.

The lawyers for the accused had told the court that this was an issue over a mobile phone which was given the colour of a heinous crime, while the lawyers for the complainant argued that in absence of previous enmity, it was hard to believe that the prosecutrix would level such allegations. The prosecution had also told the court that the accused was clearly impersonating a policeman at the time of the incident considering the recovery of Khaki pants, jacket and cap from his car.

On January 28, 2022, the woman and her friend were sitting inside a DDA park when the accused allegedly approached them wearing a khaki uniform and threatened to charge them, allegedly saying they were indulging in obscenity.

The woman alleged in her complaint that the man then assaulted her friend and demanded Rs 11,000 as a “fine”. He allegedly sent the woman’s friend to get the cash and molested her. When her friend came back, the accused collected the money and assaulted him again. He forced the friend to leave and then allegedly raped the woman. The woman said she managed to escape eventually.