Team Goemkarponn
MAPUSA: The Additional Sessions Court at Mapusa has acquitted a Mumbai-based man accused in a 2018 prostitution and human trafficking case registered in Calangute, ruling that police evidence alone was insufficient to secure a conviction.
Additional Sessions Judge Dvijple V Patkar, while pronouncing the verdict, observed that the recovery of women during a police raid or the seizure of items from a premises cannot by itself conclusively establish offences related to trafficking or sexual exploitation.
The court underlined that in cases involving allegations of recruitment, coercion, inducement and exploitation, the statements of the alleged victims are considered the most crucial form of evidence since such facts are directly within their personal knowledge.
In its order, the court noted that the testimony of the investigating officer could only confirm that a raid had taken place and certain materials were recovered from the site. Without independent support from the alleged victims, the evidence was not enough to prove trafficking charges beyond reasonable doubt.
The case originated from a police raid carried out by Calangute police on January 31, 2018, at a guest house in Calangute, where three women were allegedly rescued. Investigators had accused Sayed Tanzil of supplying women for prostitution and surviving on the earnings generated through the activity.
During the course of the trial, however, the prosecution examined only two witnesses — the investigating officer and a panch witness. The court recorded that the women allegedly rescued during the raid could not be traced and their whereabouts remained unknown.
After evaluating the evidence placed before it, the court held that the prosecution had failed to substantiate the allegations and granted the accused the benefit of doubt, leading to his acquittal in the case.
