Ajmer (Rajasthan): A special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act Court in Rajasthan's Ajmer district on Tuesday convicted six remaining accused in the rape and blackmail case in Ajmer in 1992, where more than 100 school girls were sexually exploited.
Virendra Singh, Assistant Director, Prosecution said six accused namely Syed Nafees Chishti, Iqbal Bhati, Salim Chishti, Sohail Ghani, Zameer and Naseem alias Tarzan, have been held guilty by the court after hearing both the sides. The POCSO court-2 has sent the convicts to judicial custody.
Five of the six accused were earlier sent to jail but were currently on bail. Among them, Syed Nafees Chishti has been in jail for eight years, Mumbai-resident Iqbal Bhati was jailed for 3.5 years, Sohail Ghani for four years, Naseem and Salim Chishti for seven years.
Notably, four convicts namely Ishrat, Anwar Chishti, Shamshu Bhishti and Puttan Allahabadi were ordered life imprisonment. After which, the Supreme Court had sentenced them to 10 years in jail. Similarly, the main accused, Syed Farooq Chishti was sentenced to life imprisonment by the court in 2007 but the Supreme Court sentenced him to 10 years.
In 2001, the court had acquitted Mahesh Lodhani, Harish Tolani, Kailash Soni and Parvez Ansari in this case. Another individual, Almas Maharaj, is still absconding and it is being told that he fled to US after his name surfaced in the case, where he also acquired an American citizenship. Despite being absconding, a chargesheet has been filed against him in the court, but the decision has not yet been yet.
The case dates back to 1992 when the then president of Ajmer Youth Congress, Farooq Chishti, his associate Nafees Chishti and henchmen allegedly called many girls to parties in farm houses and restaurants, where they were drugged and gang-raped. Also, their obscene photographs were taken and on the basis of these photographs, these girls were forced to bring others.
Finally, some girls mustered courage to go to police and their statements were recorded. However, these victims kept getting threats and they did not go to police again.
Meanwhile some of the obscene photographs were leaked from a studio in Ajmer and went viral. After which, police registered a case and investigated the matter. It was revealed that more than 100 school girls were gangraped and due to the political connections of the accused, even after the case was registered, no girl dared to come forward.
Then, police started searching for the victims on the basis of the photographs. Some of the victims died by suicide while a few left the city. The police worked hard and recorded the statements of some victims.
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