RAPE VICTIM LAUGHED AT BY JUDGE SANJAY KHANAGWAL

31st March 2021

The 22-year-old who accused anchor Varun Hiremath of rape wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde seeking appropriate steps to be taken against the Additional Sessions Judge's inappropriate behaviour during the hearing of an Anticipatory bail case. In the said letter, she mentioned the traumatising act on 11th March 2021 while hearing of an Anticipatory Bail.

LETTER

During the hearing, the counsel appearing for the accused made downgrading remarks at the victim’s expense. Adv Vijay Aggarwal repeatedly made humiliating remarks; he assassinated her character and slut-shamed in front of the court.

While the act of the counsel for the accused was "horrendously traumatic", she was more shaken by the fact that the judge was a party to such behaviour. Judge Sanjay Khanagwal, rather than restraining the Counsel from making such remarks, laughed with him on multiple instances. She further added that it takes a lot of courage to approach the police station to report a rape incident to hold the accused accountable. However, her experience during the trial has shaken her faith in the criminal justice system. She deeply regrets pursuing her complaint in the hope of getting any justice where the Judge himself has aggravated her misery and trauma.

She wrote this letter hoping that appropriate steps will be taken and no other victim undergoes the same humiliation.