Dutch rape case: Women not responding to Delhi Police queries

Delhi Police has filed a chargesheet against two youths for allegedly raping and cheating two Dutch women while they were on a visit to India.

The chargesheet, filed on the last day of the mandatory 90 days of custody, has, however, left many loopholes which includes failure of police in verifying emails which form part of the evidence and also ensuring presence of victims for trial.

The Dutch women had alleged that one Altaf and one of his associates Omar Baktoo, posing as tourist guides, took them to Jammu and Kashmir and raped them several times and also robbed them of their money.

Altaf was arrested on the basis of the complaint lodged by one of the victims at Connaught Place police station and he is in judicial custody since June 26.

In the case which will come up before Metropolitan magistrate Jagjit Kaur tomorrow, the investigators have said their efforts to contact the two women through emails have failed.

"The allegations against tour providing agency were also verified and it is found he is indeed holding a valid tour operator license from the Tourism Department, Government of India.

"He (tour operator) further stated that during her tour one of the women approached him and sought cancellation of her trip, accordingly they cancelled her tour and refunded her money against proper receipt," the chargesheet said.

It said the receipt "purportedly" signed by the two women was produced by the Connaught Place-based tour operator.

"The receipt is being verified from the complainant but she is not present in India and also not replying the emails sent to her. Efforts were also made to examine a friend of the complainant but with little success. Emails were also sent to her but she is not answering the same," it said.

The Delhi Police, however, said it has "sufficient documentary and oral" evidence against the accused Kashmiri youth to prosecute them. One of the accused Yasir Altaf was arrested by Delhi Police in June this year while the other youth Omar Baktoo is absconding.

The Delhi Police also said the undergarments of victims and other related medical samples were collected during the medical examination at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and sent to Forensic Science Laboratory Chandigarh, but, accused Yasir Altaf refused to give his semen for the same. His blood sample was taken by the authorities.

Meanwhile Altaf, who has been in judicial custody since June 26, shared some alleged "intimate e-mails and photographs" with the complainant. His counsel Sufian Siddiqui has argued during bail proceedings that his client had been "falsely implicated" and police had acted without following the basic procedure of verifying the claims of the victim.

"In fact, the complainant is just trying to take advantage of being a foreign national and trying to extort money from the applicant (Altaf)," Siddiqui claimed. The accused was, however, denied bail by the court.

The complainant had claimed that they were "horrified and succumbed" to the men as they had taken their passports and were threatening to put them in trouble.