Unfortunate That 'Tantrics/Babas' Take Advantage Of Vulnerability & Blind Faith: Bombay HC Upholds Man's Life Term For Rape Of 6 Minor Girls

The Bombay High Court recently confirmed the conviction and life sentence of a man claiming to be a tantric who raped and sexually exploited seven girls, six of them minors, for over five years under the pretext of curing them from begetting intellectually challenged male children.

A division bench of Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Manjusha Deshpande dismissed the appeal filed by one Mehandi Kasim Jenul Abidin Shaikh, alias Bangali Baba, against conviction by the sessions court in April 2016 observing –

“It is an unfortunate reality of our times, that people, at times knock on the doors of so called tantrics/babas, for a solution to their problems and that these so called tantrics/babas, take advantage of the vulnerability and blind faith of these people and exploit them. The so called, tantrics/babas not only exploit their vulnerability, by extracting money from them, but also many a times, sexually assault the victims, under the guise of providing solutions…The appellant took full advantage of the apprehension of the victims mothers and by manipulating their fears, assured to cure the girls and in the process, also financially exploited them.”

The sessions court had found Shaikh guilty under Sections 376 (rape), 354 (outraging modesty), 313 (causing miscarriage without consent), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 420 (cheating) of the IPC. The court had sentenced him to imprisonment for life, which shall extend to remainder of his life, and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000.

The court had also directed the return of jewellery and cash worth over Rs 1 crore, which Shaikh had taken from the victims' mothers, who were sisters, by claiming that he would treat their daughters with taveez (amulets) and water.

According to the prosecution, Shaikh had entered the house of the minor victims, who were aged between 5 to 16 years, by posing as a maulvi and offering to teach them Quran and Arabic. He then gained the confidence of their mothers, who were worried about the history of intellectual disability in their family, and assured them that he would cure their daughters from the same. He also assaulted a maid working in the house.

He then started calling the girls to the places where he was residing, and sexually assaulted them repeatedly, while threatening them not to disclose the same to anyone. He also performed abortions on four of the girls, who became pregnant due to his acts.

The crime came to light in November 2010, when the girls informed one of their fathers, who laid a trap and caught Shaikh with the help of the police. A case was registered against him at the JJ Marg police station, and he was arrested.

The prosecution examined 37 witnesses, including the seven victims, their parents, the doctors who conducted the medical examination and the abortion, the landlords of the premises where Shaikh resided, and the investigating officers. After the sessions court convicted the appellant, he approached the high court.

The appellant argued that the prosecution case was unbelievable and improbable, as the victim girls did not disclose the sexual assault for 5 to 6 years, despite having several opportunities.

The high court held that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, and that there was no reason to disbelieve or discredit the testimony of the victims, who had narrated their exploitation by Shaikh.

The high court set aside the sentence to the extent that it meant imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life, in view of the Supreme Court judgment in Union of India v. V Sriharan @ Murugan, which held that such a sentence can only be imposed by the high court or the Supreme Court and not by the trial court.

However, it reimposed that sentence, observing that this was a classic case of exploitation of six young girls by Shaikh because of the blind faith of their mothers, and warranted a sentence of imprisonment for life, which shall be till the remainder of his life.

“This is not a case where sentence should be reduced to undergone. The facts are gross, and the girls too many, and as such the sentence must be commensurate with the acts committed. Infact, after setting aside the sentence to the extent aforesaid, in the facts and for the reasons hereinabove, we deem it appropriate to re-impose a sentence of imprisonment for life, which shall be till the remainder of his life.”

Case no. – Criminal Appeal No. 365 of 2016

Case Title – Mehandi Kasim Jenul Abidin Shaikh @ Mehandi Kasam Shaikh @Bangali Baba v. State of Maharashtra