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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Rape |
Sentence: |
10 yrs |
Years Imprisoned: |
2.2 |
Year Crime: |
2006 |
Year Convicted: |
2018 |
Year Cleared: |
2020 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
India |
County or Region of Crime: |
Jammu and Kashmir |
City of Crime: |
Srinagar |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"K.C. Padhi was wrongly convicted on May 30, 2018 of rape that was allegedly committed in March 2006 in Shaheed Ganj, Srinagar district of Jammu and Kashmir province, India. Padhi was prosecuted along with seven other men based on the testimony of the complainant who was a minor. Padhi was a police officer (BSF Commandant), as were several other of the defendants. The case began on March 14, 2006 when a fruit vendor received a pornographic clip of a girl living in the area. The investigation resulted in the girl identifying Padhi and the other defendants and the charges were filed on May 10, 2006. The media dubbed it as the “J&K sex scandal case” -- which allegedly involved inducement and blackmail of teen-aged girls to engage in sex and sex recordings. Padhi's defense was he had been misidentified, which was also asserted by two other defendants. Four defendants admitted being involved but claimed they didn't know the girl was a minor, and that she wasn't a virgin, but the judge rejected that defense in ruling: "Even in case of rape where the victim is major and is alleged to have been previously accustomed to sexual intercourse, it cannot be a determinative question because even if it is proved the victim lost her virginity earlier, it does not give a license to anyone to rape her.” Two defendants were acquitted after the trial, while one had died during the trial. Padhi and the other four defendants were sentenced on June 6, 2018 to 10 years rigorous imprisonment and payment of a fine of Rs 1 lakh each after their convictions under Section 376 (rape) of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC). The five men appealed. On August 20, 2020 the Punjab and Haryana High Court set aside the judgment of conviction and sentence awarded to Padhi. The Court's ruling that acquitted Padhi stated: “By using the feeble shoulders of the prosecutrix as a pedestal, some organisations tried to settle their own agendas against paramilitary forces. Therefore, the possibility of false implication of KC Padhi at the hands of prosecution witness-prosecutrix under pressure of the CBI cannot be ruled out as she herself was socially condemned by a hostile and volatile society at that time and was in the protective custody of the CBI." The convictions and sentences of Padhi's four codefendants were affirmed by the appeals court." |
Conviction Caused By: |
False identification by the complainant. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On August 20, 2020 the Punjab and Haryana High Court set aside the judgment of conviction and sentence awarded to Padhi. The Court's ruling that acquitted Padhi stated: “By using the feeble shoulders of the prosecutrix as a pedestal, some organisations tried to settle their own agendas against paramilitary forces. Therefore, the possibility of false implication of KC Padhi at the hands of prosecution witness-prosecutrix under pressure of the CBI cannot be ruled out as she herself was socially condemned by a hostile and volatile society at that time and was in the protective custody of the CBI."" |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
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Age When Released: |
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Sex: |
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Skin/Ethnicity: |
Indian |
Information Source 1: |
"BSF Comdt acquitted, 10-yr term for 4 upheld, By Saurabh Malik (Tribune News Service, Chandigarh), The Tribune, August 20, 2020" |
Information Location 1: |
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/j-k/bsf-comdt-acquitted-10-yr-term-for-4-upheld-129155 |
Information Source 2: |
"Punjab and Haryana HC acquits BSF ex-DIG in Jammu and Kashmir sex scandal, By Ajay Sura (TNN), TimesOfIndia.com, August 21, 2020" |
Information Location 2: |
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/punjab-and-haryana-hc-acquits-bsf-ex-dig-in-jammu-and-kashmir-sex-scandal/articleshow/77666044.cms |
Information Source 3: |
"J-K sex scandal: Court awards 10 year jail to former BSF DIG, DSP, By Aneesha Bedi and Tanbir Dhaliwal, Hindustan Times(Chandigarh), June 07, 2018" |
Information Location 3: |
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/ex-bsf-officer-four-others-jailed-for-10-years-in-srinagar-sex-scandal/story-m7umuIw9NyH8PeeIggfuSJ.html |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org