A Delhi court has convicted a man for threatening to throw acid on a student and stalking her on her way to college.
Metropolitan Magistrate Shivani Chauhan held Syed Arshad Kadri, a native of Uttar Pradesh, guilty of offences under sections 354 (molestation) 341 (wrongful restraint) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC, while relying on the girl’s testimony.
“Prosecution has, very well with all certainty and conviction, been able to prove and establish the culpability against accused beyond the pales of reasonable doubt,” the court said.
The court, which is yet to pronounce quantum of sentence, said, Kadri used to stalk the girl on her way to college where she was a student of mass communication, “restrained her way several times and threatened to throw acid upon her and kidnap her if she did not pay heed to his advances.”
It said that Kadri’s counsel has not been able to elicit any material contradiction in testimony of complainant and “has not been able to reasonably explain the evidence appearing against him”.
The court also rejected Kadri’s contention that the girl framed him and she could not recall the mobile number from which he allegedly called her, saying, “the mere fact that the witness does not remember mobile numbers from which the calls were received does not negate the occurrence of the incident”.
According to the prosecution, the girl had lodged a complaint on December 1, 2010 that Kadri had been stalking, abusing and threatening her for one month.
Kadri, who was arrested and charge sheeted for the offences, pleaded innocence and claimed he was friends with the girl but her brother falsely implicated him as he did not like him.
