No broken tooth as proof: Court lets 7 accused of assaulting woman walk free

A Delhi court allowed 7 individuals accused to beating up a woman to walk free after the police failed to produce her 'broken tooth' as evidence

New Delhi: A woman's plea, challenging the acquittal of seven persons accused of allegedly beating her and breaking her teeth, has been dismissed by a court in Delhi on the ground that not even a single tooth was produced as evidence before it. Additional Sessions Judge Lokesh Kumar Sharma dismissed the appeal of the woman, a south Delhi resident, against a magisterial court order acquitting seven members of a family of the offence of voluntarily causing grievous hurt under section 325 of the IPC.

"It shall be interesting to note here that as per the complainant, two of her front teeth were broken in the scuffle and beatings suffered at the hands of the accused persons. However, not even a single tooth was produced by her either before the Investigating Officer or before the court to substantiate such allegations," the judge said. The court also noted that there were pending litigations between the woman and the accused persons, and "hence, probability of false implication by her to grab their property cannot be ruled out." It also said the police did not examine any neighbour or independent witness, despite the woman claiming that several people had gathered when she was being beaten up.

The court said that despite living in a crowded neighbourhood, her cries were not heard by any neighbour and nor was any such individual examined by the investigating agency as a witness in this case. Noting there were several discrepancies in the woman's statement, it said that instead of informing the cops immediately, she chose to send her son to narrate the incident to her sister.

According to the complaint, the accused residents of south Delhi's Kotla Mubarakpur area beat her up on May 17, 2006, injuring her grievously and breaking two of her front teeth. During the proceedings, the accused had denied the allegations claiming they were falsely implicated.

PTI