Srinagar: The court of Principal Sessions Judge Anantnag on Friday rejected the bail application of a young man alleged of raping a 70 year old tourist from Maharashtra in April this year.
Tahir Khurshid Raina, the Principal Sessions Judge rejected the bail application of the accused Zubair Ahmad Bhat son of Mushtaq Ahmad Bhat a resident of Ganeshbal Pahalgam Anantnag.
An FIR No. 21/2025 u/sections 64,331-(4) of BNS had been registered with Police Station Pahalgam immediately after the alleged incident.
Judge Tahir Khurshid, said “the appreciation of the material on record which includes the complaint, the statements of the witnesses viz-a-viz of the prosecutrix (who happened to be the star witness in the case), the medical opinion, FSL report, TIP, etc collectively and prima facie negates the grounds of bail advanced by the accused”.
The 70-year-old widow, who was in Pahalgam with her son’s family as tourist was allegedly sexually assaulted by the accused, a man even younger than her son who is complainant in the case.
Taking the advantage of her being alone in her hotel room at Pahalgam, the accused allegedly, entered into her room, gagged her mouth in the blanket, raped her, caused her injuries, and then fled through the window of the room.
So brutal, according the bail rejection order, was the sexual assault on her that the old lady was unable to sit and move and remained in pain for days together.
Accused-applicant preferred the bail application on the grounds that the police harboured some personal grudge against him and his father, on account of which he has been falsely implicated in the case.
It is alleged that investigation in the case is not being conducted in a fair and just manners. That he is willing to cooperate with the investigation and will not flee.
The judge noted that the hospitality of the people of Kashmir has in-fact, outweighed all other lofty values for which Kashmir has been known across the world. It has offered a friendly and generous reception and entertained the guests, visitors and even strangers.
The highly aggravated incident of this alleged rape has in fact, cast a shadow over the said legacy of Kashmir, he said.
“This court is pained to mention that the alleged facts given rise to the lodging of an FIR, followed by what stands discerned from the investigation, are so unethical that it glaringly stigmatize the rich and lustrous legacy of Kashmir-particularly its hospitality, as referred in the prelude”, remarked the judge.
Counsel for the accused in his arguments vehemently relied on the celebrated principle of “bail, not jail” for the grant of bail to the accused.
“There is absolutely no denial to the said recognized principle of “bail not jail”. However, in my humble appreciation of the said principle, the same is to be recognized, regarded and applied while also considering a catena of other factors, which have been emphasized in umpteen judgments of the Hon’ble Supreme Court to be considered by Criminal Courts when deciding bail applications” said the judge.
The much referred and recognized principle of “bail not jail” cannot be blindly followed at the cost of ignoring all the said factors, he said.
Finally, keeping in view the whole gamut of the case in the backdrop of the legal factors to be applied to weigh the sustainability of the prayer for grant of bail, the court did not legally reconcile with the prayer for bail.
The alleged incident is highly unfortunate, condemnable by all possible words, and ought to jolt the conscious of this society, said the judge.
This court, which every day witnesses the reflection of the probity level of this society, express its concern that it is hopelessly getting eroded on various fronts, he said.
