Since the case was filed in 2022, life has been harsh for her. And has only got harsher. Her husband has left her and the case against the accused has “weakened” with four of the key witnesses, including the husband, turning hostile and denying their recorded statements,
“Nobody, not even the lawyers, tell me what is going on in court. They don’t want to upset me. So I just wear my uniform every morning and go out for duty,” says the victim.
On October 15, 2022, The Indian Express first reported how she, then a 21-year-old government job seeker from Port Blair, had filed a police complaint alleging gangrape by Jitendra Narain, IAS, who was then Chief Secretary of Andaman and Nicobar, and then Labour Commissioner R L Rishi.
The woman was given police protection and the A & N police set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe into her allegations. By the time the FIR was registered, Narain was transferred from A & N and appointed Chairman and Managing Director of the Delhi Finance Corporation.
A day after The Indian Express report, Narain was suspended via an order of the Home Ministry citing “grave misconduct.” The next day, an A&N police team raided his house in New Delhi and seized electronic evidence including mobile phones and laptops.
Narain was arrested on November 10, 2022, and got bail from the Calcutta High Court on February 20, 2023.
The SIT in Port Blair filed a 900-page chargesheet. The trial commenced on July 1, 2024 in the court of the District Judge, Port Blair, with Narain appearing in court via tele-conferencing.
Till date, Narain remains suspended from service and is due to retire this October.
A scrutiny of the list of 115 witnesses cited by the prosecution show that three years after the trial began, four witnesses have turned hostile. They include: the victim’s husband; the driver at the Chief Secretary’s residence, who is listed as a “protected witness,” and who had, in his statement, said he had driven “several” women, including the victim, to the residence.
A third witness who turned hostile is Sawab Hussain, the CCTV technician who had testified to the police that the Chief Secretary’s staff had asked him to handover the DVD containing footage from his residence. The DVD was never traced.
The fourth witness declared “hostile” is Shohood Akhtar, who had given a Section 161 CrPC statement and is listed as a Computer Assistant working with the A&N Government.
Significantly, the driver and the CCTV technician had given statements to the police under Section 164. The victim’s deposition and cross-examination continued for 10 days from July 1, 2024 to February 6, 2025. She still has police protection the A&N Government has given her.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Chief Prosecutor in the case, Sumit Kumar Karmakar, said that the witnesses having turned hostile was “disappointing.”
However, he added that he would, accordingly, recalibrate his case. “We may now drop some witnesses, trim the list of 115 and aim for a quicker trial. We will now present our case relying more heavily on the testimony of the victim. We are confident about every word the victim has spoken in her testimony in court,” Karmakar said.
In October 2022, the driver had spoken to The Indian Express and reiterated allegations he had made in his Section 164 CrPC statement to the police.
He had then described how during his posting as driver at the residence of the Chief Secretary , he had driven “several” women to the residence. He had also told this newspaper that the pattern of visits of these women matched the “sequence” described by the victim.
The driver had said he would frequently be asked to first, escort the women at the Chief Secretary’s house, and then pick up food and deliver for the “guests.” Later, the women would be dropped off at pre-appointed places, he said.
The driver was declared hostile on October 31, 2025. In sharp contrast to his Section 164 statement, he denied the entire sequence of events during the trial. “I did not tell the police that I served drink and snacks to Sahib…I did not tell police that she was such girl whom I saw with Rishi sir and to whom I served cold drinks…I did not state to police that some girls used to come in veil and some used to come having vermilion.”
In a written submission given to court, Public Prosecutor Karmakar has said that disciplinary action should be taken against the driver since he was a Government employee and had caused a reversal in an important criminal case.
Another blow to the prosecution case has been the victim’s husband turning hostile. On March 12, 2026, he denied that the victim was ever his wife. “I have no idea regarding any complaint lodged by anyone…It is not a fact that the victim is my wife…I was called by the police and I put my signatures on 2-3 papers. I put my signature without perusing the documents.”
The husband did not reply to messages and calls made by The Indian Express.
Jitendra Narain was not available for comment. S Ajit Prasad, one of the lawyers defending him in the Port Blair trial until three months ago, said that successive key witnesses turning hostile had “significantly weakened’’ the case of the prosecution. Prasad said that due to some “misunderstandings” with the client, he had returned the brief.
Narain’s senior lawyer, Deep Kabir, said, “Since the matter is sub judice, I will make no comments on developments in the case.”
The woman was given police protection and the A & N police set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe into her allegations. (Express photo by Ritu Sarin/File) 
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