Thane: The Thane Sessions Court has acquitted a 48-year-old Mumbra man of charges of kidnapping and wrongful confinement of a woman from West Bengal. However, during the investigation, police found that his 27-year-old wife was a Bangladeshi national residing in Mumbra without valid documents, thus convicting the lady under the Passport (Entry into India) Act and the Foreigners Act and ordering her deportation to Bangladesh after completion of her sentence.
The court in its orders has acquitted Anisur @ Anichur Panchu Mulla of charges of kidnapping and wrongful confinement, as well as offences under the Passport (Entry into India) Act and the Foreigners Act. His wife, Letunejera @ Muskan Anisur Mulla, was convicted for illegally entering and residing in India. An FIR in the case was filed in September 2018.
Court acquits man in kidnapping case
Anisur was acquitted of all charges, including the allegation that he had lured a woman from West Bengal on the promise of employment and confined her in a room at Gaji Mahal Tower, Mumbra.
His wife, Muskan, was acquitted of the charge of kidnapping and wrongful confinement under Section 365 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code. However, the court convicted her under Sections 3(A) and 6(A) of the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920, and Section 14 of the Foreigners Act, 1946.
The court sentenced Muskan to 24 months and 19 days of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 500 on each of the two convictions. The sentences will run concurrently. She was also granted the benefit of set-off for the period she had already spent in custody between September 25, 2018, and October 14, 2020.
The court further directed that after completion of her sentence, Muskan be deported to Bangladesh through the Bangladesh Embassy. The Commissioner of Police, Thane, was directed to implement the deportation order and report compliance to the court.
Investigation and trial proceedings
The case originated from a raid conducted by the Anti-Human Trafficking Cell of the Thane Crime Branch at Room No. 708, Gaji Mahal Tower, Thakurpada, Mumbra, during the intervening night of September 24 and 25, 2018.
According to the prosecution, police had received confidential information that Anisur had brought Rinku Swapnakumar Maji, a woman from West Bengal, to Mumbai on the false promise of employment and had allegedly confined her at the Mumbra premises. Muskan was also found in the room during the raid.
The prosecution examined six witnesses, including police personnel, the landlord of the premises and a panch witness. However, Rinku Maji, the alleged victim, was not examined before the trial court.
The court held that this was a crucial deficiency in the prosecution case. Although Rinku's statement had been recorded before a magistrate under Section 164 of the CrPC, the court observed that such a statement is not substantive evidence and cannot, by itself, form the basis for a conviction when the maker of the statement has not been examined before the court.
The court noted that the allegations concerning how Rinku was allegedly lured from West Bengal, brought to Mumbai and confined were therefore not supported by her substantive testimony during the trial.
Procedural lapses noted
The court also pointed to several procedural lapses in the police investigation. These included the fact that the panchanama was not prepared at the spot of the raid but at the Anti-Human Trafficking Cell office, the absence of a station diary entry recording the specific time when the confidential information was received, and the failure to inform the chairman or secretary of the building society about the raid.
The court further noted that one of the panch witnesses was regularly used by the police and that no prior personal search of the panch witnesses had been conducted, hence it had created reasonable doubt regarding the prosecution's case under Section 365 read with Section 34 of the IPC.
The court therefore acquitted both accused of the kidnapping and wrongful confinement charge. The court, however, found sufficient evidence to establish that Muskan was a Bangladeshi national who had entered India without valid travel documents.
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Deportation order issued
The court relied, among other things, on prosecution evidence that Muskan had admitted before the panch witnesses that she was a Bangladeshi national and had entered India without a passport or visa. Her native address was also recorded as being in Bangladesh.
The court further noted that she did not produce any passport, visa, FRRO registration certificate or other document establishing lawful entry into or stay in India, either during the investigation or during the trial.
The court held that the prosecution had therefore proved the charges against her under the Passport (Entry into India) Act and Section 14 of the Foreigners Act.
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