‘No proof 5.5-ft cleaner filmed woman doc from 10-ft wall’: Court frees accused | Mumbai News

Mumbai: A magistrate’s court recently acquitted a 36-year-old hospital cleaner in a voyeurism case almost six years after he was accused of filming a senior resident doctor changing in a ladies room. The court noted the significant height difference between the accused, who is 5.5-foot tall, and the 10-ft high partition wall of the changing room, highlighted the prosecution’s failure to explain how the video could have been recorded without the aid of a stool, chair or ladder. “This fact is not clarified by the prosecution. In this scenario, the sketch map can clear the picture of the spot of occurrence. Thus, it is the duty of the investigating officer to prepare a sketch map of the changing room, but he did not do so. Therefore, this fact goes against the case of the prosecution,” judicial magistrate R R Telavane said.The magistrate also said non-filing of a forensic report of a mobile phone in a case of a voyeurism, can be a fatal flaw in the prosecution’s case, especially if the instrument is relevant to the incident. “In this aspect, no doubt on Feb 6, 2020, the investigating officer has sent the seized mobile phone to Forensic Science Laboratory, Santacruz, for examination, but after a lapse of five years, the report has not been filed by the prosecution… Thus, the absence of a forensic report on the accused’s mobile phone significantly impacts the prosecution’s case,” the magistrate said. The accused was out on bail. The incident was reported on Dec 31, 2019. The doctor said at about 5.50pm, after coming from the operation theatre, she went to the ladies changing room. She saw a camera outside the partition of that changing room. Therefore, she realised that someone was capturing her video. She immediately rushed outside the changing room and alleged she saw the accused was fleeing from there. She caught him and forcefully took his mobile phone. When she checked his mobile phone, she found a video in which the ceiling of the changing room was captured. The victim confronted the man, whom she identified as the accused, a cleaner at the hospital. A case was registered at Agripada police station. However, no video evidence of her “private act” was produced in court. Mumbai: A magistrate’s court recently acquitted a 36-year-old hospital cleaner in a voyeurism case almost six years after he was accused of filming a senior resident doctor changing in a ladies room. The court noted the significant height difference between the accused, who is 5.5-foot tall, and the 10-ft high partition wall of the changing room, highlighted the prosecution’s failure to explain how the video could have been recorded without the aid of a stool, chair or ladder. “This fact is not clarified by the prosecution. In this scenario, the sketch map can clear the picture of the spot of occurrence. Thus, it is the duty of the investigating officer to prepare a sketch map of the changing room, but he did not do so. Therefore, this fact goes against the case of the prosecution,” judicial magistrate R R Telavane said.The magistrate also said non-filing of a forensic report of a mobile phone in a case of a voyeurism, can be a fatal flaw in the prosecution’s case, especially if the instrument is relevant to the incident. “In this aspect, no doubt on Feb 6, 2020, the investigating officer has sent the seized mobile phone to Forensic Science Laboratory, Santacruz, for examination, but after a lapse of five years, the report has not been filed by the prosecution... Thus, the absence of a forensic report on the accused’s mobile phone significantly impacts the prosecution’s case,” the magistrate said. The accused was out on bail. The incident was reported on Dec 31, 2019. The doctor said at about 5.50pm, after coming from the operation theatre, she went to the ladies changing room. She saw a camera outside the partition of that changing room. Therefore, she realised that someone was capturing her video. She immediately rushed outside the changing room and alleged she saw the accused was fleeing from there. She caught him and forcefully took his mobile phone. When she checked his mobile phone, she found a video in which the ceiling of the changing room was captured. The victim confronted the man, whom she identified as the accused, a cleaner at the hospital. A case was registered at Agripada police station. However, no video evidence of her “private act” was produced in court.