HC grants bail to eight accused in 2021 Dombivli gangrape case

The Bombay High Court granted bail to eight of 33 accused in a 2021 gangrape case, citing insufficient evidence and the victim's failure to identify them.

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Tuesday granted bail to eight out of 33 persons accused of gangraping a 15-year-old girl in Dombivli over eight months in 2021, noting that they had already spent a long time behind bars, the evidence against them was not sufficient and the victim had failed to identify them. The bail pleas of four other arrested accused were rejected by the court.

HC grants bail to eight accused in 2021 Dombivli gangrape case

The case stems from an FIR registered on September 23, 2021, based the victim’s statement recorded the previous day. In her statement, the minor girl provided a detailed description of events over the eight-month period. The first incident of sexual abuse occurred on January 29, 2021, she said – it was video-recorded by one of the accused, Tushar Gorakh Kasbe, and subsequently used to blackmail and sexually assault her till September 22, 2021.

At times, the girl complained, her drinks or water were spiked, which made her feel dizzy and disoriented. The accused then took advantage of her situation, threatened to make the video public and sexually assaulted her.

The lawyers of the 12 accused drew attention to discrepancies in the minor’s statements and claimed their clients were wrongly implicated in the case as they lived in the same neighbourhood as her and were also part of the same WhatsApp group.

The additional public prosecutor opposed their bail pleas, emphasising the severity of the crime and claiming that the girl had explicitly named each accused, including the 12 bail applicants, and provided specific accounts of their action during the alleged incidents.

The prosecutor also said that the applicants had only served a limited period in jail while the maximum punishment they faced was life imprisonment. Granting sympathy or leniency to the applicants, given the heinous nature of the crimes alleged, could convey a wrong message to society, the prosecutor said.

The single judge bench of justice Manish Pitale, while examining the evidence on record, acknowledged the extensive number of individuals implicated in the case and said that the complexity necessitated a careful review of the material available against each applicant, allowing for an individualised assessment of their respective circumstances.

The court also noted that the victim had moved out of her former neighbourhood and failed to identify eight of the 12 applicants.

“This lack of recognition weakens the prima facie case against them, suggesting that their involvement in the alleged offenses remains unsubstantiated,” the court said, granting bail to eight of the accused.