Survivor in actor rape case expresses profound disenchantment with trial court judgment

The survivor in the 2017 actor rape case on Sunday made a scathing social media post, signalling profound disenchantment with the trial court’s verdict last week.

In the post narrating her uphill struggle for justice and the setbacks she endured, she pointedly says that as early as 2020, she as well as the prosecution “noticed changes in the way the case was being handled, especially when it came to one particular accused.”

“This verdict may surprise many people, but it did not surprise me. As early as 2020, I began to feel that something was not right. Even the prosecution noticed changes in the way the case was being handled, especially when it came to one particular accused. After years of pain, tears, and emotional struggle, I have come to a painful realisation that not every citizen in this country is treated equally before the law. At the end of the day, this verdict made me realise how strongly human judgement can shape decisions. I also know that every court does not function in the same way,” she writes.

Later in the post, she lists out the reasons why she lost faith in the trial court, including the alleged illegal access and tampering of the memory card.

“My fundamental rights were not protected. The most important evidence in this case—the memory card—was found to have been illegally accessed three times while it was in court custody. Two public prosecutors resigned from this case, stating clearly that the court environment had become hostile towards the prosecution. Both of them personally told me not to expect justice from this court, as they felt it was biased. I repeatedly requested a proper investigation into the tampering of the memory card. However, the investigation report was never given to me, until I kept asking again and again,” she writes. She also raises questions on the accused requesting for the same judge to continue to hear the case when she was demanding a fair trial. “While I was fighting for a fair trial, the accused filed a petition requesting that this same judge continue to hear the case. This raised even more serious doubts in my mind. I even wrote letters to the Honourable President of India and the Honourable Prime Minister of India, expressing my concerns and seeking intervention. I requested the court to conduct the proceedings in an open court, so that the public and media could be present and see for themselves what was happening. This request was denied,” writes the survivor.

The survivor writes that she is grateful that six of the accused have been convicted. In the social media post, she also dispels certain rumours being spread about the case on online platforms, which, she alleges, is part of a paid campaign.

“This moment is dedicated to those who chose to call my pain a lie and this case a made-up story. I hope you are at peace with yourselves today. To those who still keep saying that Accused No.1 was my personal driver, this is completely false. He was not my driver, not my employee and not someone I knew. He was a random person who happened to be assigned as a driver for a movie I worked on in 2016. Ironically, I met him only once or twice during that time, and never again, until the day this crime happened. To those who continue to attack me with abusive comments and paid narratives, you are free to continue doing what you are paid to do,” she writes.