"Heinous Crime": Delhi High Court Denies Bail To Woman Accused Of Trafficking Minor

The Delhi High Court has denied bail to a woman accused of trafficking a minor tribal girl aged 14 years, noting that it was unfortunate that an innocent girl of tender age was subjected to heinous crimes and was severely abused, exploited and tortured by several people.

"The offences under Sections 370 and 376 of the I.P.C are grave and serious in nature and have adverse social implications. The petitioner has been charged for trafficking a minor girl which is in itself a heinous offence," Justice Chandra Dhari Singh observed.

The FIR was registered under Section 370 (Buying or disposing of any person as a slave), 376D (Intercourse by any member of the management or staff of a hospital with any woman in that hospital), 376(2)(n) (Rape), 323 (Voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (Criminal intimidation), 120B (Criminal conspiracy) and 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. 

The complainant had filed an application under Section 156(3) of the Cr.P.C. stating that she was an Adiwasi girl from Jharkhand and was brought to Delhi from Jharkhand in search of work. It was stated that she was placed as a house maid with the accused Anand and Chintamani, who were running a placement office.

It was also stated that after one year of work, she was forcefully brought as a maid to Anand's house. However, whenever the complainant used to demand her salary, she was denied payment and instead tortured.

It was alleged that Anand committed rape on the complainant several times while she was living in his house and whenever the complainant told the same to Chintamani, she used to beat her and threatened her not to tell anyone about it.

Thereafter, the FIR further alleged that the accused persons namely Anand and Chintamani sent the complainant to the petitioner, in Uttar Pradesh and that the petitioner then sent the complainant to Haryana.

It was alleged that another accused used to commit rape on the complainant and treated her like a slave. He also told the complainant that he had purchased her from the petitioner for a consideration of Rs. 2 lakhs.

According to the FIR, the complainant one night ran away from the house of the said accused and came to Delhi to her known Ashok. Thereafter, she lodged the FIR against all the accused persons.

The petitioner, upon getting information regarding the FIR being registered against her, surrendered before the Court and was sent to Judicial Custody on 20th March, 2021.

"The complainant is a tribal girl who was brought to Delhi from Jharkhand in search of work when she was merely 14 years of age. It is unfortunate that an innocent girl of tender age was subjected to such heinous crimes as alleged in her complaint and has been severely abused, exploited and tortured by several people accused in the FIR," the Court noted.

Keeping in view the facts of the case, contents of the FIR and the gravity of the offences, the Court refused to grant the relief of bail to the petitioner.

Accordingly, the plea was dismissed.

Case Title: POONAM v. STATE NCT OF DELHI

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Del) 218

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