The victim claimed that the Delhi Police deliberately failed to procure evidence against Hussain, and took five years to register the FIR.
A Delhi court has summoned BJP leader Syed Shahnawaz Hussain on Tuesday in connection with a rape case.
The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Vaibhav Mehta, presiding over the Rouse Avenue Court, rejected the Delhi Police’s request to dismiss the case, which claimed that Hussain was not involved.
The court, instead, acknowledged the victim’s complaint, where she alleged that the police had displayed a negative bias from the case’s inception and that it took them five years to file the initial First Information Report (FIR). She further accused the police of deliberately failing to collect evidence against Hussain.
Shahnawaz Hussain was summoned after the court took notice of alleged violations of Sections 376/328/506 of the Indian Penal Code. He has been directed to appear in court on October 20.
The complainant has alleged that in April 2018, Shahnawaz took her to a farmhouse, incapacitated her, and committed rape while recording the act on video. He also reportedly threatened her with severe consequences if she disclosed the incident. According to the complainant, the FIR was not filed until the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court intervened.
Upon reviewing the case, the court found no grounds to dismiss the complainant’s case outright. The judge stated that unless the investigating officer can provide evidence to prove that it was impossible for the complainant to have been raped, there is no reason to reject her case prematurely.
The judge emphasized that the accuracy of the complainant’s statement would be determined during the trial. The prosecution’s arguments were rejected, and the court questioned the credibility of the complainant’s claims. The court opened that minor contradictions in her statement should not lead to a wholesale disbelief of her account, emphasizing the importance of considering her repeated claims of being raped while intoxicated.
