New Delhi, March 25 -- The Delhi high court on Tuesday acquitted Geeta Arora alias Sonu Punjaban and Sandeep Bedwal in a case involving the trafficking of a 12-year-old girl for prostitution, setting aside their 2020 convictions and jail terms of 24 and 20 years, respectively.
A bench of Chandrashekharan Sudha held that the prosecution relied on the survivor's testimony, which contained material contradictions and inconsistencies across the FIR, statements and court deposition.
The court flagged discrepancies in the timeline, sequence of events and roles of the accused, noting that these went to the root of the case. It also found lapses in the investigation and lack of corroborative evidence, making the conviction unsafe.
Published by HT ...