Police to challenge SP leader Moid Khan’s acquittal in Ayodhya rape case

Moid Khan and Raju Khan were booked in July 2024 on charges of sexually assaulting a minor, recording the act, and causing her pregnancy. Both were arrested and remanded to judicial custody.

Following the arrests, the district administration in 2024 demolished Moid Khan’s bakery, citing illegal construction on a pond.

During the investigation, DNA profiling of the victim’s aborted foetus was conducted, which matched that of Raju and did not match that of Moid. During the course of the trial, the court examined 13 prosecution witnesses.

On January 28, the court convicted Raju under charges of rape and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, while acquitting Moid Khan by extending him the benefit of doubt. The next day, the court pronounced the sentence and awarded Raju Khan 20 years of rigorous imprisonment, Tripathi said.

Tripathi said there are sufficient grounds for filing an appeal, including lapses in the police investigation. He added that the prosecution has applied for a certified copy of the judgment and will examine it in detail before preparing the appeal.

According to the prosecution, the complainant’s father had lodged an FIR in July 2024, alleging that Raju took his daughter, then 12, to the bakery, where Moid first sexually assaulted her, while the servant recorded the act on a mobile phone.

It was further alleged that Raju also raped the victim and threatened her with dire consequences, including circulating the recorded video, if she disclosed the incident to anyone.

It was alleged that Raju continued to sexually exploit her on multiple occasions, as a result of which she became pregnant.

The matter came to light when she was taken to a hospital after complaining of abdominal pain. Upon medical examination, doctors confirmed that she was nearly two months pregnant. Then a case was registered and the accused were arrested.

Subsequently, the victim underwent medical termination of pregnancy in accordance with legal procedures. DNA profiling was conducted using the foetal sample as part of the investigation.

Samajwadi Party’s Ayodhya district president, Parasnath Yadav, said Moid Khan holds the post of city president and is currently lodged in jail in connection with another case. He further claimed that Moid had been falsely implicated in the rape case.

Yadav alleged that the case was politically motivated and aimed at influencing the atmosphere during the Milkipur by-election. He demanded that the BJP and the Chief Minister issue an apology in the matter.

Sharing a photo of demolition, Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav had posted on X, “Does the BJP have any bulldozer that can rebuild people’s demolished homes and restore the roof of dignity and self-respect? Those in power may get the cases against themselves withdrawn, but how will they escape the trials being recorded in God’s court for the sins they have committed. After so much injustice and wrongdoing, how can anyone sleep in peace? Injustice has become the hallmark of the BJP government. A one-sided, biased attitude is itself a form of wrongdoing. Under the BJP rule, the bulldozer has become a symbol of negative and destructive thinking. The kind of injustice practiced in BJP politics now points clearly toward its defeat. The BJP-backed injustice will lose. The BJP supporters and their allies must remember: Truth is greater than any conspiracy.”