Ballabhgarh student murder case to be heard on day-to-day basis by fast-track court

Chandigarh, November 12

The trial proceedings in the murder case of a 21-year-old college student of Ballabhgarh in Haryana’s Faridabad district will be conducted on a day-to-day basis by a fast-track court.

District and Sessions Judge Deepak Gupta said this on Wednesday in his reply to a letter from Faridabad Police Commissioner OP Singh, who had sought hearing of the case in a fast-track court.

An exclusive court for fast-tracking of cases of heinous crimes against women has already been set up in the district as per the instructions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2013, Gupta said.

The court is presided over by Additional District and Sessions Judge Sartaj Baswana.

Gupta, in his reply, said the proceedings would be conducted by the exclusive court on a day-to-day basis.

The victim, Nikita Tomar, was shot dead outside her college in Ballabhgarh last month allegedly by a man who had been pressuring her to marry him, according to the police.

A B.Com final-year student, Tomar, had stepped out of college after taking an exam when the incident took place. Before shooting her, the accused tried to force her into the car he had come in, the police had said.

Two men—Tausif, the main accused, and Rehan—were arrested in the case.

Faridabad police had filed a 700-page chargesheet before a local court on November 6, less than two weeks after the murder.

Earlier, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij had said that the trial against the accused would be held in a fast-track court.

Replying to a calling attention notice on the case in the Legislative Assembly, Vij had, earlier this month, said that the state government was providing all possible help to the victim’s family.

Vij had also said a case of kidnapping was registered against the accused—Tousif and Rehan—by the victim’s family in 2018, but was later withdrawn.

The entire incident, including the abduction case, will be investigated by the government, the home minister had said.

Vij had said that he asked police to investigate who pressured the victim’s family to withdraw the kidnapping case.

The accused—Tousif—belongs to some “powerful political family”, and he was held within 12 hours of committing the crime, Vij had said. PTI