A case of alleged sexual abuse of a rape victim by a Judge recently came to the fore from a court in Tripura. In her complaint to the police, the rape victim alleged that the accused judicial officer touched her inappropriately and warned her if she (the victim) didn’t allow his sexual advances, the court case would go against her. She said, “Without making any statement I somehow managed to escape the situation within a few minutes.”
The Kamalpur police station admitted that it had received a written complaint against the accused Judicial officer Bishwatosh Dhar but has not yet registered a case. However, the Police stated that the investigation has been ongoing. It added that once the allegations are prima facie confirmed, they will register a case under the appropriate sections.
Meanwhile, following the rape victim’s allegations, a Senior Advocate said on Sunday (18th February) that a three-member panel has launched a probe of her allegations which will be headed by District and Sessions Judge (Dhalai) Gautam Sarkar.
As per reports, the rape victim was molested by the accused judicial magistrate Bishwatosh Dhar in his chamber when she was called to depose her testimony in the rape case on Friday (16th February). The rape victim was reportedly accompanied by a woman constable but the accused judicial magistrate allegedly didn’t allow her to remain with the rape victim.
In her complaint to the additional district and sessions judge of Kamalpur, the victim said, “I went to the chamber of the first class judicial magistrate to get my statement recorded on February 16. When I was about to give my statement, the judge groped me. I rushed out of his chamber and informed the lawyers and my husband about the incident.”
Additionally, her husband also lodged a separate complaint with the Kamalpur Bar Association over the incident. Her husband asked, “He said that judges have to do this while taking the statement of such cases. Hearing this, she objected and started crying. Then the judge asked her to leave and sit outside. If a judge bears such character how will people get justice?”
The victim’s husband demanded strict legal action against the accused judicial magistrate in addition to departmental action.
After receiving the complaint, District Judge (Dhalai) Sarkar visited Kamalpur on Saturday. During his visit, he was accompanied by Additional District and Sessions Judge Rahul Roy and Chief Judicial Magistrate Satyajit Das. They interacted with fellow judicial officers, practicing lawyers, and a few staff of Kamalpur court about the incident and took stock of the behaviour and conduct of the accused judicial officer.
Speaking with PTI, the secretary of the advocate body, Shibendra Dasgupta said, “The three-member panel headed by the district and sessions judge also met the members of Kamalpur Bar Association on the court premises and sought our point of view on the allegations of the woman. We placed our points before the panel.”
Responding to the allegation brought against the judge, Registrar General of the Tripura High Court, V Pandey said, “We have not yet received any official complaint regarding the issue. Like other people of the state, I too came to know about it from the media and social media platforms. Once we receive a complaint in a proper format, we will definitely take appropriate action.”