Shameful that nobody came to the rescue of woman assaulted, paraded in broad daylight: Delhi court

A Delhi court rejected the bail plea of a 55-year-old woman accused in the assault of a 20-year-old woman who was smeared with black ink and paraded in broad daylight in the national capital [State v. Baby]..Additional Sessions Judge at Karkardooma court Sanjeev Kumar Malhotra remarked that the “shameful” incident occurred in a busy residential area, yet nobody came forward to rescue the assault survivor, which is a "black spot" on our society.The judge was hearing the bail plea of the woman who is one of the accused in the case..The survivor woman had turned down the proposal of a man who later died by suicide after the survivor married another person. The relatives of the deceased had then kidnapped the survivor, allegedly raped her and paraded her on the road after chopping off her hair, garlanding her with slippers and smearing her face with black ink. A video of the same recorded by the accused themselves had gone viral on social media.The accused were charged with various offences including rape, assault and rioting.The name of applicant-accused, a relative of the deceased man, cropped up when the survivor recorded her statement before the police..The applicant’s counsel, however, argued that she was not seen in any of the video clippings with the police or those that went viral on social media.The prosecutor, on the contrary, contended that the woman had actively participated in the crime.It was argued that independent witnesses had corroborated the version of the survivor..The shameful incident occurred in broad daylight in a busy residential area and nobody came forward... is a black spot on the face of our societyAdditional Sessions Judge Sanjeev Kumar Malhotra.“Prosecutrix/victim has specifically named the applicant in the FIR and has narrated her role in the incident,” the Court noted.Calling the allegations grave in nature, the Court added,“There are independent witnesses, who have given their statements regarding the incident. The shameful incident occurred in broad daylight in a busy residential area and nobody came forward to rescue the victim, which is a black spot on the face of our society.”.Additional Public Prosecutor Rakesh Mehta appeared for the State.Advocates Bhairav Dass, and Swati Singh Gaharwal from the Delhi Commission for Women, represented the survivor.Advocate R K Kochar represented the applicant.Advocates Ravinder Kaur Batra and Tej Pratap Singh argued for the complainant.