Victim’s father writes to DM for removal of prosecution lawyer
DEHRADUN: The father of the victim in the Pauri Garhwal receptionist murder case has written to the Pauri Garhwal district magistrate, asking him to remove prosecution lawyer from the case.
In a letter on June 1, the victim’s father alleged that prosecution lawyer Jitendra Rawat was “deliberately trying to save the accused by not bringing the important facts before the court.”
“Prosecution witness number 8 Vivek Arya in his statement before court made it clear that accused had attempted to rape my daughter in the confinement. The prosecution lawyer, however, didn’t bring such important facts to the notice of court and Arya’s statement was recorded in the court under molestation charge,” the victim’s father said.
“The prosecution lawyer has been uploading objectionable videos regarding the case on a YouTube channel belonging to his family which shows that the prosecution lawyer wasn’t serious about ensuring that his daughter get justice,” he said in the letter which HT has seen.
He further added, “The prosecution lawyer doesn’t share with us the important information related to the case. It is totally against the government’s pledge and intention for justice.”
The family also urged the DM to appoint any other prosecution lawyer with their consent before June 9.
“If not done so, we will be compelled to take any step for justice to our daughter. The administration and the government would be responsible for the same,” the victim’s father said.
Jitendra Rawat termed the allegations baseless.
He said, “The statements of witnesses recorded in the court are exactly the same as what they gave to the special investigation team during the team. The allegations against me are baseless and politically motivated.”
Pauri Garhwal DM Ashish Kumar Chauhan didn’t respond to calls despite repeated attempts.
Vivek Arya in his testimony before the Kotdwar court on March 4 claimed that resort manager Saurabh Bhaskar had attempted to rape the receptionist after spiking her drink. Prosecution counsel Rawat had recently said, “In his testimony, Vivek Arya, who used to work at the resort as a housekeeping staff, informed the court that the victim woman had told him on September 11 that Saurabh tried to rape her on September 2 in room number 106 after spiking her drink. The witness also stated that the key accused and resort owner Pulkit Arya also tried to kiss her following which she had slapped him.” Rawat said, “The witness also claimed that the victim woman had called him on September 17, 2022 to save her after he left the job on September 16.”
The 19-year-old receptionist from Pauri Garhwal district was allegedly murdered by resort owner and former BJP leader Vinod Arya’s son Pulkit and two other staff members Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta at his resort in Pauri district. According to police, she was allegedly killed for refusing to provide “extra services”, a euphemism for prostitution, to a VIP guest.
The incident took place on September 18 last year, while the woman’s body was recovered from the Chilla canal six days later.
The murder had triggered public outrage. Pulkit Arya along with two other accused is now in jail.
In March earlier this year, the court in Kotdwar framed charges against three accused, including former Bharatiya Janata Party leader’s son and resort owner Pulkit Arya, in connection with the Pauri Garhwal woman receptionist murder case. The charges were framed against the three accused by the court of additional district and sessions judge Pratibha Tiwari under sections 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence), and 354A (sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code, and section 5 of the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act that deals with prostitution.
On December 19, the special investigation team (SIT) submitted the charge sheet against three persons suspected of murdering the receptionist.
The 500-page charge sheet, which contains statements of 100 witnesses and 30 pieces of documentary evidence, was filed in the court of Kotdwar Judicial Magistrate First Class Bhawna Pandey.
The charge sheet includes forensic reports, post-mortem report, electronic evidence like data from three mobile phones belonging to the accused, and WhatsApp chats. It also includes statements of 100 witnesses, including that of former employees who worked at the resort.
Prosecution lawyer is deliberately trying to save the accused by not bringing the important facts before the court. VICTIM’S FATHER