14 years after FIR, court acquits 2 women of charge of soliciting for prostitution

New Delhi: More than 14 years after an FIR was registered, a court here has acquitted two women of the charge of soliciting for prostitution, saying the prosecution's case had "material omissions" and "missing links" in the chain of circumstances.

The court was hearing a case against accused Afsana and Seema, who were charged with section 8 (seducing or soliciting for purpose of prostitution) of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention)

Act.

According to the prosecution, a raid was conducted at a house in Jagjeet Nagar locality in New Usmanpur area in Shahdara on the basis of a tip-off about a prostitution racket on October 16,

2008.

"I find that there are material omissions in the prosecution version and missing links in the chain of circumstances sought to be proved by the prosecution. Therefore, I hold that the state has failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused Afsana or Seema indulged in seduction or solicitation for purpose of prostitution," Metropolitan Magistrate Rupinder Singh Dhiman said in an order passed

last week.