Heart of Darkness

The police later said she was pushed inside the car by Abhinav Kocchar, 28, a Modern School alumnus. Kochhar, who ran a travel agency in Azadpur, was a regular to Djinns, the hotel’s nightclub. He drove the victim around and then allegedly raped her after parking the car in the Safdarjung Enclave area.

He dumped the girl near Deer Park where she was found by a PCR van. In a state of trauma, initially she refused to lodge a complaint and even gave in writing that she didn’t want to pursue the case. It was only after her friends persuaded her that a day later she lodged a complaint with the police.

THE police, still smarting over its failure in the Swiss diplomat incident, acted promptly. It traced the accused within hours. But cracking the case was not easy.

The victim only remembered the make of the car and the last two digits of its registration number. Police then picked up the hotel staff, parking attendants and vendors to track the accused. The list of club regulars was drawn and matched with the vehicle entries in the parking registers. Investigators also put to use their vehicle tracking software to draw a list of car matching the description given by the victim. The breakthrough came soon. The chargesheet in the case was submitted in the Patiala House court immediately after the incident. Charges were framed under section 376, (rape) IPC.

Like in any other sensational case, the bureaucracy swung into action asking pub and hotel owners not to allow persons under 25 consume or buy liquor. Even the police wrote to the excise department asking them to take action against the hotel.

The case is now under trial and currently evidence is being recorded. The next date of

hearing has been fixed for January 20, 2006. The accused, meanwhile, is out on bail though no one is sure where the victim is.