E-Paper
Delhi riots: Bail plea dismissed in murder of 85-year old woman
New Delhi:
New Delhi:
A Delhi court dismissed the bail applications of four persons in a case of alleged murder of an 85-year old woman, who choked to death when her house was torched during the communal violence in north-east Delhi in February.
Additional sessions judge Vinod Yadav dismissed the bail pleas of Arun Kumar, Ravi Kumar, Prakash Chand and Suraj Singh in the death of Akbari Begum.
“A careful analysis of the statements of witnesses prima facie indicate that all the four accused persons were very well part of the unlawful assembly, which had put the house of the complainant on fire after committing robbery .
“I find the ‘occular evidence’ of independent witnesses like Mohd Aijaz Hussain, Shakeel and Salam, which gives clear details of the individual role of the accused persons in the incident,” the judge said in his order on August 6.
The court said that from the videographic description of the place of incident, it was prima facie evident that the house of Akbari Begum was targeted by the riotous mob.
“Since a garment factory was being run by the complainant (Mohd Saeed Salmani) and his family members in their house, there was a lot of inflammatory material available in the house. The house caught fire and large-scale destruction took place and the unfortunate death of Akbari Begum (mother of complainant) also took place,” it said.
It said if released on bail, the accused can threaten the witnesses in the case.
During the hearing held through video conferencing, the counsel for the accused said Arun, Ravi, Chand and Singh were falsely implicated in the case and there was no legally sustainable evidence available against them.
The police said the accused were not only part of the “riotous mob”, which had indulged in pelting stones, chanting slogans and committing vandalism, but was also part of mob that entered into the house of Begum and set it on fire after committing robbery.
According to the charge sheet, on February 25, when the mob torched Akbari Begum’s house, other members escaped to the roof but the octogenarian could not.
