‘Weak, non-credible evidence’: Court sets free teacher accused of raping minor in Shopian in 2015
The Jammu Kashmir High Court has acquitted a teacher from Shopian who was previously convicted of raping an 8th-class student, observing that it would be dangerous to hold the accused guilty on grounds of weak and shaky evidence.
A court in south Kashmir’s Shopian district had previously, on October 17, awarded a 20-year jail sentence to Mohammad Maqbool Ganie, a resident of D.K Pora Shopian, and imposed a Rs 10 lakh fine on him, a week after convicting the accused for rape of a minor girl seven years ago.
After finding the accused guilty of rape, Principal District and Sessions Judge, Shopian announced the quantum of punishment against the convict.
However, High Court, in its ruling, deemed it dangerous to hold the accused guilty solely based on weak and shaky evidence.
After ...