The Delhi High Court has dismissed the bail application filed by a woman accused of trafficking a minor tribal girl on false pretext of work, while noting that it was unfortunate that an innocent girl of such tender age was subjected to heinous crimes.
The Single-Judge Bench of Justice Chandra Dhari Singh was dealing with a bail plea filed by a woman, who has been in judicial custody since March 2021, in relation to an FIR registered at Police Station Nihal Vihar in Delhi in 2019, for offences punishable under Sections 370 (trafficking of person), 376D (gang rape), 376(2)(n) (committing repeated rape on a woman), 323 (voluntary causing grievous hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
The backdrop of the case relates to a complaint filed by a girl, who claimed to be an ‘Adiwasi’ from the State of Jharkhand and was brought to Delhi by a person in search of work. It was stated in the complaint that she was placed as a house maid with accused Anand and Chintamani, who were running a placement office.
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It was further stated that after one year of work, she was forcefully brought as a maid to Anand’s house, who used to torture her whenever she demanded salary from him. It was alleged that Anand committed rape upon her on multiple occasions and whenever she told the same to Chintamani, she used to beat her and threatened her not to tell anyone about it.
After a brief period, she was sent to one Poonam, the petitioner herein, in Uttar Pradesh, who further sent her to Kaithal in Haryana, along with one Sonu and one Jasmer.
She alleged that Jasmer used to commit rape upon her and treated her like a slave. Also, she was told by him that he had purchased her from the petitioner herein for a consideration of Rs two lakh.
The instant FIR against all the above-named accused was registered after the victim ran away from Jasmer’s house and came to Delhi.
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The Court, while rejecting the instant bail plea, observed,
“The complainant is a tribal girl who was brought to Delhi from Jharkhand in search of work when she was merely 14 years of age. It is unfortunate that an innocent girl of tender age was subjected to such heinous crimes as alleged in her complaint and has been severely abused, exploited and tortured by several people accused in the FIR.”
“The offences under Sections 370 and 376 of IPC are grave and serious in nature and have adverse social implications. The petitioner has been charged for trafficking a minor girl, which in itself, is a heinous offence”
-added the Court.
poonamvsstatenctofdelhion16february2022-412763