The Times of India
October 23

The Delhi high court has ordered the arrest of the persons accused of raping an Uzbek tourist who had managed to get bail fraudulently. Justice J D Kapoor directed the police commissioner to personally ensure that the accused were arrested, produced before the court and sent to Tihar Jail.

The judge set aside the bail order when it was brought to his notice that the accused were arrested after the rape of the tourist in May 2000 and their bail was rejected by a court earlier. But when one court rejected their application, the accused again pleaded for bail on the same grounds before the vacations sessions judge during court holidays, concealing the fact that their bail had already been rejected by the other court. As a result, they secured bail.

Taking a serious note of their attempt to hoodwink the court, the judge observed that the fact that they concealed the dismissal of their bail application showed "the clandestine, unscrupulous and unethical ways the bail was procured".

The court noted that when she resisted the assailants, she was battered before being sexually assaulted. The accused pulled her hair and then hit her head against the wall to overpower her.

"The description of the incident by her makes out a very grave and serious offence. It is also sad that the FIR was not lodged on her complaint, but on the complaint of the first secretary of the embassy of Uzbekistan, who talked to her in Russian and narrated it (the events) in English to the police," the judge noted in the order.

"She had come as a tourist to the country and was raped. Such incidents not only slur the (country's) reputation but also deter tourists. The culprits have to be dealt with a heavy hand," the judge observed.

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