Six years on, snatching case accused acquitted

Chandigarh, March 1

A local court has acquitted Vicky arrested on the charge of snatching a chain from a woman, with prosecution having failed to prove charges. The police arrested the accused after registering an FIR on March 3, 2016, on a complaint of the woman.

In a complaint to the police, the woman had claimed that while she was coming back from a temple in Sector 44 here, two persons riding a bike snatched a gold chain from her neck. After investigation, the police claimed that an accused in another case made a disclosure statement that he also committed the snatching in Sector 44 on March 3, 2016.

After completion of the investigation, the police filed a challan in the court. After finding the accused prima facie guilty, the court framed charges against the accused to which he pleaded not guilty. However, the complainant did not identify the accused during cross-examination. She also did not identify her signatures on the identification memo. As the complainant failed to identify the accused and also failed to identify her signatures on identification memo as well as on recovery memo, she was declared hostile by the court. During her cross-examination, she denied the contents of the complaint in which she narrated the incident. Rohit Khullar, counsel for the accused, challenged the case of prosecution contending that the accused had been falsely implicated in the case and he had not committed any kind of snatching. He said the complainant had categorically not identified the accused in the court.

After hearing the arguments, Renu Goyal, Judicial Magistrate (First Class), said the woman (complainant) failed to identify the accused and the chain given by the police. The chain of events is missing and from the evidence placed on record, there is no iota of evidence to link the accused with the alleged occurrence and recovery thereof. “In the light of above discussion, this court is of the considered view that the prosecution has miserably failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. Accordingly, the accused Vicky is acquitted of the charges framed against him under Section 356, 379 and 411 of the IPC by giving him the benefit of the doubt,’ says the court order.

Victim fails to identify accused

The complainant did not identify the accused during cross-examination. She also did not identify her signatures on the identification memo.