PANAJI
The Additional Sessions Court has denied bail to Chandrashekar Lamani, a 35-year-old tempo traveller driver accused of raping an engineering college student on Christmas Day in 2022, stating that the gravity of the crime and the moral responsibility of the accused warrant his continued term in jail.
In the order pronounced on Tuesday, Additional Sessions Judge Apurva Nagvenkar also opined the young victim may have committed a mistake by getting intoxicated; however, she did not anticipate the serious crime.
“The victim is a young college student who may have committed a mistake by drinking alcohol knowing that she may get intoxicated but did not anticipate that such a heinous crime will be committed against her when her fellow students and the driver of the tempo traveller were around her. But, the accused is not of a tender age who did not know the consequences of his criminal act,” the Court observed adding,
“The accused was having a responsibility to guard and take care of said three helpless students who were not in their senses due to intoxication and therefore, prima-facie there is a moral turpitude.”
The court further noted that since the victim is yet to be examined, granting bail to the accused at this stage would be premature. The prosecution has so far examined two out of 32 witnesses listed in the chargesheet.
“…hence unless and until the victim is examined before the court and she is given the opportunity to give her explanation in respect of the discrepancies pointed out by defense in her evidence, the accused cannot be enlarged on bail,” it said.
As per the charge sheet, the incident occurred on December 25, 2022, around 6 pm, when a group of engineering college students from South Goa travelled to Panaji in a hired tempo traveller to celebrate Christmas. The victim, aged 18-19 years of age, along with two friends, was left in the vehicle as they were intoxicated and unable to proceed to a restaurant with the rest of the group.
The complainant stated that while the victim was asleep in the rear seat of the vehicle, the accused allegedly forced himself on her despite her repeated pleas to stop. A female friend who was also in the tempo traveller alerted others at the restaurant, prompting the group to rush back to the vehicle, where they found the victim distressed. By then, the accused had fled the scene.
A police complaint was filed followed by the accused’s arrest on December 26, 2022. A chargesheet was filed on February 20, 2023, and the case has since been under trial.
