Family members of the siblings protest outside the Mumbai Police commissioner’s office last week. (Express Photo)Personal intervention by Mumbai Joint Commissioner of Police (Law & Order) Vishwas Nangre-Patil has led to the release of two brothers, who were wrongly arrested in a rape case registered at a police station in central suburbs.
The Bandra court on Thursday granted temporary bail to the brothers – aged 19 and 20. This, after the police told the court that they have not found any evidence against the siblings.
Following this, Nangre-Patil on Thursday ordered an inquiry into the matter, asking the local police to submit a report.
Last week, the family members of brothers Nilesh and Anil Chauhan had protested outside the Mumbai Police commissioner’s office against the arrests.
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A senior officer said that they had submitted a report under Section 169 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) before the local court, following which the court released the two on temporary bail.
Section 169, which relates to “release of accused when evidence deficient”, states, “If, upon an investigation… it appears to the officer in charge of the police station that there is not sufficient evidence or reasonable ground of suspicion to justify the forwarding of the accused to a magistrate, such officer shall, if such person is in custody, release him on his executing a bond.”
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The local court said it will hear the side of the story of the 19-year-old victim, who is married, on Monday. The woman had alleged that the two brothers had entered her residence on May 10 when she was alone and raped her. She had claimed that while one person raped her, the other shot the incident on video.
The police have said that based on the woman identifying the two brothers on CCTV footage, the two were arrested on May 16 and allegedly confessed to the crime. Two days later, the family members of the siblings and local activists protested outside the police commissioner’s office and also met Nangre-Patil.
During the protest, the family had alleged that they have CCTV footage that shows that on May 10, the two brothers were in Vile Parle around 5 pm, while the rape took place in central suburbs around 4.30 pm.
Jagdev Chauhan, the father of the youths, said, “It is not possible for one person to travel this distance in such a short time.” The family also pointed out two CCTV footages, based on which the brothers had been picked up by the police, shows them crossing the lane where the victim resided.
“They pass by the lane in under five minutes as per the footage from CCTV cameras installed at the two ends of the lane. It is a long lane and it is not possible for one to cross it and rape a woman within five minutes,” the father added.
Sources said that on May 19, Nangre-Patil went to the local police station, where the brothers had allegedly confessed to rape. However, when Nangre-Patil questioned the two men in the absence of other policemen, they broke down and claimed that they were being forced by the police to confess to the crime.
Sources added that Nangre-Patil then asked the police to submit a report under Section 169 of CrPC before the court so that the twp brothers could be released from jail. He also asked them to submit an inquiry report, based on which he will decide the next course of action.
When contacted, the father of the youths said, “Thanks to Vishwas Nangre-Patil that our boys could be rescued. Action should be taken against policemen who arrested and beat them up. They are school children who must have been scared of police aggression. If the police had any suspicion, they should have conducted a proper investigation before picking them up.”
The local police said that it would record the statement of the woman again to find out why she identified the two brothers as the rapist.
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