I wish the judges of Cal HC were women, the verdict is bad law : 'Kamduni' Mother pledges to fight it out

“My daughter would have been 31 this year but she was killed ten years back. And ten years later, since her brutal killing, she has been killed once again today…but this time by the court”, mother of the Kamduni victim was inconsolable on Friday as she spoke with News The Truth in between the maddening media rush for her interviews.

The Calcutta High Court on Friday has acquitted one of the six convicted in the 2013 gang-rape and murder of the a 21 year old girl from Kamduni, North 24 Paraganas in West Bengal, a crime that had triggered wide spread protest and anger across the state. The heinous crime had come in the close footsteps of the 2012 New Delhi Nirbhaya gang-rape that had stoked nation wide uproar questioning the safety of women in India. The Calcutta High Court on Friday has set aside the sessions court judgement that had awarded capital punishment to the three accused- Amin Ali, Saiful Ali and Ansar Ali and while awarding 10 years of imprisonment for another three- Imanul Islam, Aminur Islam and Bhola Nath Naskar. While the High Court has acquitted Amin Ali, death sentence of Saiful Ali and Ansar Ali were converted into life imprisonment. On the other hand the remaining three – Sheikh Imanul Islam, Aminur Islam and Bhola Naskar - who were sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment by the sessions court, were released by the High Court division bench against bail bond of ₹10,000 each as they had already served the said period behind bars.

“How could the court do this? Would you call this justice? We didn’t get justice. When Nirbhaya gang-rape happened, the accused were given capital punishment. Please tell me what happened to my daughter, how is that any different or less gruesome”, asked the mother while venting qualms against the Bengal state government of Mamata Banerjee alleging that the case wasn’t pursued in a water tight manner by the public prosecutor in the High Court. “ We don’t understand English, we are poor people. Inside the court they only speak English. At the end of the legal battle after so many years, today the court suddenly passed this judgement. This is bad law. What happened to my daughter was shocking and shameful. This verdict will set the wrong precedent and tomorrow this would embolden others. I will fight it out. I will go to Supreme Court because I don’t want what happened to my daughter happening to anyone else” the mother added.

It was Wednesday, June 7, 2013 when the 21 year old girl was returning home. She was a BA second year student and post her examination she was on her way home. She had gotten off at the Kamduni bus stop and her brother was supposed to pick her up but he was running late. The girl decided to walk it down but she never returned home. She was dragged inside an abandoned property and mercilessly raped. Later in the evening when the family had frantically started looking for her, they found her bag in the neighbourhood and then hours later her mutilated body was recovered. Medical reports had confirmed her rape. The case was handed over to the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID). The Sessions court in Kolkata on January 31, 2016 had awarded death sentence for three prime accused. The judge of the Sessions court was Justice Sanchita Sarkar. As the verdict was challenged before the Calcutta High Court, the legal battle continued beyond 2016. Seven years since the verdict by the lower court, division bench of Cal HC of Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Ajay Kumar on Friday acquitted one of the 3 awardees of the death sentence.

“I wish the judges of the Calcutta High Court were women. The woman judge of the Sessions Court had understood the plight of a woman and the pain of a mother. I don’t wish this kind of suffering to another woman. Kamduni incident can not be an anecdote to bad law, it can not become the reference to another incident. I have lost my daughter and I won’t forget or forgive” the visibly furious mother broke down and her other family member rushed to console her. She recalled her days with her daughter and weeped remembering the horrific sight of the crime that had shaken one and all. The victims legs were torn apart, as per the medical reports. “ The judges follow evidences, for them everything is black and white. But we had a colourful life with our daughter and today we have to fight for justice in this grey world. We tried raising our children well. She would at times ask for a salwar and I would say, don’t worry you will earn one day. Today even after death, my daughter has earned in justice”, in tears the mother signed off as another news channel took the family for a live broadcast.