Top policeman freed from rape case

Sessions court discharges suspended DIG Sunil Paraskar

In a breather for the suspended Maharashtra deputy inspector general of police Sunil Paraskar, a local sessions court on Friday discharged him from charges of molesting and raping a city-based model on different

occasions.When The Asian Age contacted the 25-year-old complainant (name withheld to protect her identity) she replied, “I am shocked with the discharge order.”

“We are going to a higher court (against the order),” she added. The complainant said that the case should have been tried and all witnesses should have been heard, including, importantly, the complainant herself.

The complainant, a 25-year-old model, had alleged that Paraskar had molested and sexually assaulted her on two occasions in December 2013. According to her, she had met Paraskar first in 2012, when he was an additional commissioner of police, regarding a case.

On the other hand, reacting to the order, Mr Paraskar said he was very happy and relieved with the discharge order. According to him due to these allegations, it was “very embarrassing” for him to meet the constables and police officials who once worked under him.

He said he even contemplated committing suicide.Mr Paraskar also said the wedding of his brother’s daughter was held in May and everyone in the ceremony was giving him a “suspicious look”. “Nobody told me anything but their eyes spoke so many things,” he added. Meanwhile Mr Paraskar’s wife Sangeeta also said that she knew it was “all rubbish”. “I used to eat with her and knew her very well”, she said.

Special public prosecutor Pradeep Gharat confirmed the development and said that after going through the order he would request the state to file against the discharge in the high court.

On the other hand, Mr Paraskar’s defence lawyer Rizwan Merchant said, “After going through the chargesheet, we found that even as per chargesheet no case is made out against my client so we filed the discharge application and told the court that the case is groundless and complaint is also false.”

According to advocate Merchant, “The chargesheet has material collected during investigation and it also has audio transcript and messages after the alleged incident which show that the complainant was expressing love towards the applicant.”

He also said, “We pointed out several discrepancies in the prosecution’s case and the court appreciated our arguments and discharged Mr Paraskar.”