PANAJI
The Fast Track Special Court has acquitted 38-year-old yoga instructor Pratik alias Prateek Yogi Chaitanya Agarwal, who was accused of sexually assaulting and cheating a foreign student in 2017 under the pretext of offering a “Tantric massage.”
The court held that the prosecution failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt, primarily because the complainant did not appear before the court to depose during the trial.
The case arose from an incident alleged to have occurred on February 2, 2017, at a yoga centre in Korgao, Pernem. According to the prosecution, the accused, posing as a yoga instructor, allegedly molested and sexually assaulted her on the pretext of administering a therapeutic massage.
He was also charged with cheating after allegedly inducing the complainant and her friends to transfer money online for a yoga course that was never conducted and for facilities that were allegedly never provided.
During the trial, the prosecution examined 19 witnesses, including medical experts, police officers and panch witnesses. However, the investigating officer informed the court that despite efforts, the prosecution could not secure the presence of the complainant to testify.
In its judgment, the court cited the importance of the victim’s testimony in prosecuting such offences, observing, “The best witness to state before the court as to what had happened was the victim herself.”
The court also noted that the medical evidence did not conclusively support the prosecution's case. Holding that the prosecution had failed to establish the charges beyond reasonable doubt, the Fast Track Special Court extended the benefit of the doubt to the accused and acquitted him of all offences.
