CHANDIGARH: A city court last week resummoned a French tourist girl, Katia Darand, who was allegedly molested by seven men, including VIP ward, about 22 months ago, for July 27 and directed the Punjab government for her to and fro air travel and lodging from Lyons (France) to Chandigarh.
In his order, Chief Judicial Magistrate Darshan Singh said that fresh summons be sent to Katia through Ministry of Home Affairs to make her appear for recording her statement. It is for the sixth time that the main prosecution witness, Katia 1s being summoned by the court. She has failed (o appear in the court despite a number of summons issued by the court through the French embassy.
Public prosecutor Pradeep Mehta confirmed that earlier summons sent to Katia had been received by her one through the Ministry of External Affairs and another by a registered post.
The court accepted the prosecutor’s plea to withdraw its earlier orders that directed the Punjab government to depute an officer not below the rank of a sub inspector, to visit France to serve summons to Katia.
Darshan Singh said that the defence counsel’s plea to give last opportunity to Katia to depose before the court would be considered on the next hearing fixed for July 27, Defence counsel NC Tandon regretted that since the charge was filed in July last year, the case has been adjoumed for 17 times.
Seven accused persons, including Gurkirat Singh grandson of the slain Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, who were charged with the crime were present in the court. Katia was allegedly molested by the accused at a factory after she was abducted from her friend’s house in Mohali near here on August 31, 1994.
Three more witnesses, Tarsem Singh, gunman of the slain, chief minister, Gian Chand, a draftsman and Rattan Singh, a factory worker, last week deposed before the court Rattan Singh, who retracted his statement was declared hostile by the prosecutor. The witness alleged that police forced him to sign on the blank papers in police station of Mohali.
Six more witnesses, including Katia, are yet to be examined by the court. Two witnesses, Nasser Ali, a police constable, and Balwant Singh, another policeman who put up the challans in this case were last week dropped from the list of witnesses to be examined.
The draftsman, Gian Chand, said he made the map of the factor where Katia was molested at the instance of police. Initially he had made a rough map and then he made a pucca site plan of the premises, He said, adding that he had destroyed the rough map.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 12, 1996
