16 months after suspect’s arrest, cops want charges withdrawn

Chandigarh, April 17

Almost 16 months after arresting an auto driver in the case of gang rape with a call centre employee in 2016, the UT police have realised that the man was innocent.

The police have written to the UT Home Department for permission to withdraw the charges against Wasim Malik, who was a suspect in the case.

The victim was violated by an auto driver and his accomplice while she was returning home from work on December 12, 2016. She had hired an auto from the road separating Sectors 34 and 21 on the Dakshin Marg to go to Hallo Majra around 8 pm. The accused drove the auto to a slip road in Sector 29 and stopped it near a forest area on the roadside. She was taken into the forest area and raped.

A few days after the incident, the police arrested the suspect, Wasim Malik of Sector 56, also an auto driver by profession. As per the police, he was identified by the victim in the test identification parade. During the trial in court on April 19 last year, the victim failed to identify Wasim. He was recently granted bail after two accused were arested. — TNS