Jaipur justice on fast track: Man in jail after 2-day trial

The Vidhayak Puri Police Station here — only the second in the country to have ISO 9000 certification — received a complaint on Thursday from a tourist that she had been molested by a rickshaw puller while looking for a hotel.

Police identified the rickshaw puller, Vijay Das, within two hours and over the next few hours approached the court with a chargesheet.

On the police’s request, the court began the trial immediately and heard out some witnesses — interestingly three foreign tourists deposed as witnesses.

The trial resumed yesterday and the court announced its judgment by evening, handing Das a six months’ jail term and a Rs 500 fine.

The court said it was imperative to hand out punishment quickly in such cases as the country’s reputation was at stake.

Justice Rajendra Chaudhary, who announced the sentence, said: “It is a grave case of molestation of a foreign tourist who could not have imagined that she would have to undergo such an ordeal after landing in Jaipur. The incident can not only damage the tourism industry but also ruin the image of the country among foreign tourists. It is, therefore, imperative to punish the culprit without delay.”

Speedy justice in Rajasthan

• A Jodhpur court awarded life terms to two autorickshaw drivers 20 days after they raped a German tourist on the city outskirts. The police conducted investigations quickly, even getting DNA test results within a week of the incident.

• A Jaipur fast track court sentenced to death a person accused of raping a minor 24 days after the assault. The High Court upheld the judgment but commuted the sentence to a life term.

• A special court in Jaipur handed a life term to a man for raping a seven-month-old girl. The sentence was announced within 26 days of the rape.