Former employee of Hotel Taj acquitted in rape case

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 13

Almost 18 months after a former employee of Hotel Taj here was accused of raping a Madhya Pradesh girl, he was acquitted by a local court today. The prosecution failed to prove the case as the defence highlighted the fact that the girl has filed 8-10 similar cases across the country and was facing extortion charges in Amritsar.

A few days after filing the case in Chandigarh, the girl, who was then working with an IT company in Jaipur, filed a similar case in Amritsar. However, the FIR in the case was quashed as her complaint was found to be false. She was thus booked for extortion and the case is yet to be decided.

The suspect in this case was Sunny Kumar (30), who was then working with Hotel Taj here on a contractual basis. The girl had alleged that Sunny had raped her at his rented accommodation in Sector 22 here and dropped her back at the hotel in the morning.

The victim claimed that she wanted to buy a cake to celebrate her birthday. After his shift ended, 

Sunny met the victim outside the hotel. The victim and the accused went to the latter’s house in Sector 22 to celebrate the birthday where she was raped, she had alleged. However, she had also refused to get medically examined at the time.

Defence counsel Rabindra Pandit said his arguments revolved around the facts that similar FIR of rape in Amritsar was cancelled and the girl was booked for extortion. He said: “We took up her past record and told the court that she had filed 8-10 such FIRs”.

Sunny not only had to quit his job in Chandigarh but also the shame involved in such allegations forced him to change his city. He relocated to Delhi where he is now working with a high-end hotel chain. However, Sunny’s life got back on track after the girl was booked for extortion in Amritsar.

Sunny is now married and says his family as well as his colleagues have been very supportive. Speaking to Chandigarh Tribune, Sunny said: “I am relieved today and thank the court as well as the media for all support. I was falsely implicated. But I always had faith in law”.

Court takes five months to pronounce order

The trial of the case had ended in June. However, the case was adjourned several times in the past five months and was finally decided on Tuesday. All these months, Sunny was present in the court on each hearing, as law demands. He came from Delhi and said he adjusted his weekly offs as per the court’s hearing.