Special court grants bail to main accused in gang rape of minor girl in Hyderabad

Saduddin Malik, 18, is the only major among the six other juvenile accused in the case. While four of the juveniles were granted bail by the Juvenile Justice Board on July 26, the fifth accused obtained bail from the Telangana high court on July 27.

A special court dealing with the cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in Hyderabad on Wednesday granted bail to key accused Saduddin Malik in connection with the gang-rape case of a minor girl in the upscale Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad on May 28.

A special court dealing with the cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in Hyderabad on Wednesday granted bail to key accused Saduddin Malik in connection with the gang-rape case of a minor girl in the upscale Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad on May 28. (Representative Photo)

Malik, 18, is the only major among the six other juvenile accused in the case. While four of the juveniles were granted bail by the Juvenile Justice Board on July 26, the fifth accused obtained bail from the Telangana high court on July 27.

The juveniles were released from the juvenile home in Kacheguda hours after getting the bail. Malik, who was lodged in Chanchalguda Central Prison, also walked out of the jail on Wednesday night. With Malik’s release, all the six accused persons in the case are now out on bail.

The POCSO court was convinced by Malik’s lawyers that the Jubilee Hills police had already investigated all the angles and filed the charge sheet before Nampally criminal court. The lawyer had contended that the accused was entitled for the bail as per the norms.

The police recorded the statements of as many as 65 witnesses and incorporated the same in the charge sheet. They also enclosed the forensic reports (FSL), and DNA test results collected from the accused and from the car used in the crime. The CDs of the CCTV footage, mobile phone call data records, messages and photographs collected from the social media platforms were also included in the charge sheet.

The police registered the first information report on May 31, three days after the crime took place. In the first information report (FIR), the police said the accused had forced the minor girl to get into his Mercedes Benz car at the pub on May 28 evening and from there drove the car up to the pastry shop, where she was shifted into a Toyota Innova in which they raped her.

The police booked cases against the accused under Sections 376-D (gang rape), 323 (causing injuries) and 376 (kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), besides the POCSO Act.

Another case was also booked under the Information Technology Act for circulating the pictures and video of the victim while going in the car.