Shoddy probe in gangrape in car case: Bombay HC; grants bail to 2

MUMBAI: Releasing two accused on bail in a case where a 14-year-old girl was allegedly gangraped in a moving car in 2020, the Bombay high court slammed the investigation and drew the police commissioner's attention to it.
"The investigation of such a serious crime is carried out in a most casual and shoddy manner. It is only because of such a lapse that the applicants, who are alleged to have committed such a serious crime, are ordered to be released on bail. The commissioner of police, Mumbai, to personally look into the matter and take necessary action against the erring officer by making necessary entry in his service record," directed Justice Anuja Prabhudessai on April 28.
Bail applications were filed by two accused, pending trial before a special POCSO court, seeking parity with the third accused who was granted bail a few months ago.
According to the FIR filed at Mankhurd police station, on July 29, 2020, around 10.30pm, the girl, after meeting a friend in Shivaji Nagar, was going to her aunt's place when three men in a car offered her a lift. They drove towards Vashi check naka, stopped at a Chembur petrol pump and proceeded towards Wadala. The girl said all three raped her and later dropped her at Mankhurd.
Justice Prabhudessai noted that the girl had told a magistrate that she had not seen the men before and they called each other by nicknames. "The investigating officer, who is stated to be of the rank of PI (police inspector)...has chosen not to establish the identity of the accused...by conducting a test identification parade," she said. Further, the August 8, 2020 panchnama showed that the girl was called to the police station to identify the accused. "Such identification is prima facie inadmissible," she added.
The prosecutor referred to the statement of the owner of the car that it was driven by one of the accused. Justice Prabhudessai said though the investigating officer had seized the vehicle, "no efforts were made to ascertain whether there were semen stains or any other incriminating material in the car". The prosecutor also relied on the statement of the petrol pump attendant that at 11pm, a car came to fill CNG and a girl was sitting in it. "This witness has not specified the number of the car or the persons as well as the girl in the car. There is no other material to show the involvement of these applicants in the said crime," Justice Prabhudessai said.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)