Find if offence of unnatural sex against 10 cops: HC to CBI

The Bombay High Court today directed CBI to consider if prima facie evidence points out offences of unnatural sex against the 10 police officials booked in the 2014 custodial death case of a 25-year-old youth.
A division bench of justices R V More and Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi was hearing a petition filed by the victim Agnelo Valdaris's father Leonard. Following the petition, filed in 2014, the case was handed over to CBI for probe.
CBI in its FIR booked 10 police officials from Wadala Railway police on charges of murder, unnatural sex, kidnapping and falsifying evidence and so on.
However, in its charge sheet filed in January, CBI charged the accused only for criminal conspiracy, voluntarily causing hurt and other lesser charges. The charges under which the policemen have been booked will attract maximum punishment of three years, in contrast to life sentence had they been charged with murder.

Advocate Yug Chaudhary, appearing for the petitioner, today argued that CBI has failed to consider material evidence which clearly points out to offence under section 377 (unnatural sex) of IPC.
CBI counsel Hiten Venegaonkar, however, told the court that the accused have been booked under various sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) which is similar to section 377 of IPC.

Chaudhary, however, said while the POCSO Act is for offences against minors, section 377 deals with offence against major and hence that should be included.
The bench after perusing certain witnesses' statements that are part of the CBI charge sheet observed, "Booking the accused only on charge of causing voluntary hurt is not enough. Prima facie material seems to be there pointing at other offences. Go through this evidence and take instructions from the investigating officers."

The court posted the matter for further hearing on December 19.
Agnelo and three others, including a minor, were picked up by Wadala Railway Police on charges of robbery on April 15, 2014.
For the next three days they were allegedly stripped, tortured and even forced to have unnatural sex with each other. On April 18, Valdaris died in custody while the others were released on bail on April 22. After his death, Wadala police claimed that Agnelo died while trying to escape from their custody and was run over by a train.