Five people have been sentenced to life imprisonment for abducting a 19-year-old rape victim in India to stop her testifying in her own case. The woman disappeared from her village in Uttar Pradesh in 2007 and has never been found.
The case dates back to Barhad village in Aligarh district, where the teenager worked as a daily wage labourer at an orchard. According to the family's lawyer, she was allegedly raped while working there. Police later arrested the accused, rescued the teenager and registered a rape case.
Abducted to prevent evidence
After being released on bail, the accused allegedly pressured the family to reach a compromise. When they refused, the court heard the teenager was allegedly kidnapped again a few months later to stop her giving evidence. According to the FIR lodged by her father on September 28, 2007, the accused allegedly entered the family home armed with country-made pistols before abducting her because she was the complainant and key witness in the case.
Last week, a court ruled she had been abducted to prevent her from appearing as a key witness. Five people were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment on July 30, while a sixth accused was acquitted.
Family speaks out
Her family said they only learned about the verdict through local media. Her mother said: "We are happy, but this has come at great cost. We lost our daughter. We lost my husband, who spent years fighting this case. We sold our only three bighas of land and our buffalo. Now we have almost nothing left."
The woman's husband spent years pursuing the case before his death in 2020. Her sons have since taken over responsibility for following the court proceedings. One of her brothers said: "I saw my father run from police station to lawyers and courts for years. We are grateful that the court has sentenced the accused to life imprisonment, but one accused was acquitted despite, in our belief, playing a major role in the crime. We hope he is also brought to justice."
Investigation and court proceedings
The family's lawyer said the girl's father repeatedly approached police after the kidnapping, but no case was initially registered. He later went to court, which directed police to register a case into the kidnapping. The rape case ended with all of the accused being acquitted on May 22 this year after the missing teenager could not be produced before the court. However, on July 30, five people were convicted over the kidnapping and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Police said multiple teams had investigated the disappearance but had been unable to find the teenager. A police officer added: "We are examining the old case records to gather more details. As far as I know, the girl has not been traced so far. Under law, a person missing for seven years may be presumed dead, though that does not mean the person has been officially declared dead in every case."
