A Delhi court on Tuesday acquitted former Haryana MLA Gopal Kanda in the case of abetment of suicide of air hostess Geetika Sharma, PTI reported. Special Judge Vikas Dhull noted that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges against the Haryana Lokhit Party leader. He also acquitted co-accused in the case, Aruna Chadha.
Sharma, who was an employee with Kanda’s MLDR Airlines, was found dead on August 5, 2012, at her home in Delhi. In a note, she had accused Kanda and Chadha of mental harassment. Her mother had also died by suicide six months later, according to The Indian Express.
Kanda was a minister in the Congress government in 2012 when he was charged in the case. He was forced to resign following an uproar.
The former minister had been charged under Sections 306 (abetment of suicide), 506 (criminal intimidation), 201 (destruction of evidence), 120B (criminal conspiracy), and 466 (forgery) of the Indian Penal Code.
The police had initially charged him under Sections 376 (rape) and 377 (unnatural sex) of the Indian Penal Code also, but these offences were dropped by the Delhi High Court, according to the Hindustan Times.
On Tuesday, Kanda said that the charges against him were made up, reported ANI. “There was no evidence against me, this case was made against me and today the court has given its verdict,” he told reporters after the verdict.
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