9 yrs in jail for murder, but ‘victim’ still alive

May 30th, 2010, Sunday, Amita Verma, The Asian Age

Lucknow: Tej Pratap of Mathura district was made to spend nine years in jail for a murder that did not take place.

The police arrested Tej Pratap in 2002, when his father-in-law lodged a complaint claiming that his daughter had been killed by Tej Pratap. Tej Pratap had married Rani, an Aligarh resident, in early 2002 and his wife had gone home for Holi. Rani refused to return to her husband’s home and her father told the police she had been killed by her husband.

The police, without establishing that a murder had occurred, or finding Rani’s body, arrested Tej Pratap and jailed him. Tej Pratap approached the high court in this regard but his bail plea was rejected and he has been languishing in jail ever since. Tej Pratap recently had a heart attack and was granted bail for treatment. During this time, Tej Pratap contacted Rani and opted for divorce after paying her Rs 3 lakhs. Rani’s father had demanded Rs 10 lakhs to settle the divorce proceedings.

When the fact that Rani was alive came to light, the role of the police came in for severe criticism.

The police has now lodged an FIR against Rani and four others.
http://www.asianage.com/india/9-yrs-jail-murder-%E2%80%98victim%E2%80%99-still-alive-412