Delhi: Retd Army Subedar gets bail in sexual assault case

New Delhi, [India], November 3, A Delhi Court granted bail to a retired Army subedar, who was arrested for allegedly posing as a policeman and sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman at a park in the Dwarka area of the national capital.
The additional sessions judge of the Dwarka court, Lokesh Kumar Sharma, in an order on November 1, Tuesday, granted bail to Rajesh Kumar Malik, saying that
after considering all the facts and circumstances of the case, the examination of the public witnesses and no previous involvement of the accused in any criminal case and also keeping in view the period of incarceration that the accused has already served, he was granted bail on a personal bond of Rs. 25,000 with one surety.
The court also issued directions that the accused is not to make any effort to contact or intimidate the prosecutrix (victim) or any of her family members, either directly or indirectly, in any manner whatsoever and he was further directed not to visit the locality of the prosecutrix within a range of 500 metres for any purpose. Any breach of these conditions would result in cancellation of his bail, the court noted.
Appearing for the accused, advocate Ravi Drall submitted that a trivial issue pertaining to a mobile phone had been given the colour of a heinous crime against his client who is an ex-army personnel and presently working as a wrestling coach with clean antecedents.
The defence counsel further stated that his client had been in judicial custody since February 13, 2022 and since all the public witnesses have been examined, there remains no apprehension of his threatening or intimidating any other witnesses, as all the remaining ones are police officers. It was also stated by the defence that the entire recovery alleged to have been made by the investigating officer (IO) in the case, either from the possession or at the instance of the accused, was planted.
The additional public prosecutor, appearing for the state, submitted that the recovery of khaki trousers, a jacket and a cap from his car is sufficient to draw a conclusion that he was imposing himself as a police personnel.
The victim's mother also opposed the bail plea saying there was a serious threat to her security if the accused is granted bail as she lives with her son in a society that the accused knows very well. Further elaborating on her apprehension with regard to personal security, she said her husband, an Army officer, is currently posted out of station and the prosecutrix is also out of Delhi for her higher studies.
The case dates back to February this year when the Delhi Police arrested the 38-year-old retired Army subedar for allegedly posing as a policeman and raping the 19-year-old woman at a park in Dwarka. According to the police, the investigating team found that the accused, who is contractually employed with the Haryana government's sports department as a wrestling coach, would frequent public parks in South Delhi and Rohini in the evening. It was suspected that he also targeted other couples there to extort money.
The victim, in her complaint, said she was sexually assaulted in a park in the Dwarka area. She said she was sitting with a friend in the park when a man in a pair of khaki trousers approached them claiming to be an officer of the Delhi Police. He then robbed Rs 5,000 from her friend before forcing himself on her, she claimed.