New Delhi: Delhi Police has filed a
chargesheet against two youths for allegedly raping and
cheating two Dutch women while they were on a visit to India.
The chargesheet, filed on the last day of the mandatory
90 days of custody, has, however, left many loopholes which
includes failure of police in verifying emails which form part
of the evidence and also ensuring presence of victims for
trial.
The Dutch women had alleged that one Altaf and one of his
associates Omar Baktoo, posing as tourist guides, took them to
Jammu and Kashmir and raped them several times and also robbed
them of their money.
Altaf was arrested on the basis of the complaint lodged
by one of the victims at Connaught Place police station and he
is in judicial custody since June 26.
In the case which will come up before Metropolitan
Magistrate Jagjit Kaur tomorrow, the investigators have said
their efforts to contact the two women through emails have
failed.
"The allegations against tour providing agency were also
verified and it is found he is indeed holding a valid tour
operator license from the Tourism Department, Government of
India.
"He (tour operator) further stated that during her tour
one of the women approached him and sought cancellation of
her trip, accordingly they cancelled her tour and refunded her
money against proper receipt," the chargesheet said.
It said the receipt "purportedly" signed by the two women
was produced by the Connaught Place-based tour operator.
"The receipt is being verified from the complainant but
she is not present in India and also not replying the emails
sent to her. Efforts were also made to examine a friend of the
complainant but with little success. Emails were also sent to
her but she is not answering the same," it said.
The Delhi Police, however, said it has "sufficient
documentary and oral" evidence against the accused Kashmiri
youth to prosecute them. One of the accused Yasir Altaf was
arrested by Delhi Police in June this year while the other
youth Omar Baktoo is absconding.
The Delhi Police also said the undergarments of victims
and other related medical samples were collected during the
medical examination at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and sent to
Forensic Science Laboratory Chandigarh, but, accused Yasir
Altaf refused to give his semen for the same. His blood sample
was taken by the authorities.
Meanwhile Altaf, who has been in judicial custody since
June 26, shared some alleged "intimate e-mails and
photographs" with the complainant. His counsel Sufian Siddiqui
has argued during bail proceedings that his client had been
"falsely implicated" and police had acted without following
the basic procedure of verifying the claims of the victim.
"In fact, the complainant is just trying to take
advantage of being a foreign national and trying to extort
money from the applicant (Altaf)," Siddiqui claimed. The
accused was, however, denied bail by the court.
The complainant had claimed that they were "horrified and
succumbed" to the men as they had taken their passports and
were threatening to put them in trouble.
PTI
