Victim's father seeks withdrawal of case against Papu

Bhubaneswar: The case of sexual abuse against actor Tatwa Prakash Satapathy aka Papu Pom Pom was turned on its head today when the teenage victim's father filed an affidavit in the Khurda District and Sessions Judge Court seeking withdrawal of the case since the matter had been 'amicably resolved'.

“The father of the victim filed an affidavit the court saying ‘we do not want to proceed any further in the case since the matter has been amicably settled among both the parties’," said Friends Foundation secretary Babita Kar, who had filed the complaint against Papu Pom Pom in the Mahila police station here on behalf of the victim.

“Within three days of the lodging of the police complaint, one person went to the house of the victim with a packet and met her parents. The victim’s parents beat her up and did not allow her to meet us. At that point, the statement of the victim was recorded by the Commissionerate Police under Sec 164 of IPC. This kind of amicable compromise does not happen in a minor girl sexual abuse case. Therefore, the court rejected the affidavit,” she added.

Court sources, however, disputed Kar's claim that the affidavit had been rejected. The hearing on the affidavit by the court along with Papu's bail plea on July 11, they said.

Kar said; “A gang must have been involved in this case. The Commissionerate Police has not sought remand for Papu and his aide yet.”.

On the other hand, the public prosecutor told OTV that the judge in the court stated that the father of the victim had no locus standi to file such an affidavit in the case.

Legal experts are of the opinion that the charges against Papu are all cognisable offences and compromise cannot be reached in such cases.