Police inaction should not affect a case: Court

A delay in police action should not affect a case, a sessions court has said, refusing to set aside a jail term given to a man convicted of molesting and threatening a woman.
The sessions court made the recent observation while upholding the order of a magisterial court which had sent the convict to jail for 15 months for forcibly entering the woman's house in south Delhi and sexually molesting her.
"The victim has stated that she had gone to the police station immediately but no action was taken by them... In such circumstances, a delay of four days in formally lodging the complaint is not fatal to the case of the complainant," Additional Sessions Judge Vrinda Kumari said.

The judge also rejected the appeal which contended there was no independent witness to prove the allegations against convict Nabil Ahmed."The court has no hesitation in holding that the convict has no defence in his favour. Where the testimony of the complainant/victim herself could not be shaken and is strong, the absence of independent witnesses is not fatal to the case of the complainant," the judge said.
According to the prosecution, \Ahmed entered the woman's house on June 15, 2007, and molested her.
He also warned the complainant that if she took any action against him, her family would be in trouble, it was alleged.

A magisterial court had held him guilty of offences under sections 354 (assault/force to outrage the modesty of a woman), 448(house-trespass) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC and sentenced him to 15 months in jail, besides imposing a fine of Rs 10,000 on him.