POCSO Court Discharges Two Co-Accused in Calangute Gang Rape Case Citing Lack of Evidence

The Fast Track Special (POCSO) Court, Merces has discharged two men who were booked and arrested in an alleged gang rape and wrongful confinement case involving a minor girl in Calangute. The court allowed the discharge plea filed by co-accused Akash alias Akshaya Pawar (20) and Anil Rathod (27), both residents of Vijayapura, Karnataka, noting a glaring absence of incriminating material linking them to the alleged crime.

The prime accused, 28-year-old Praveena Ramesh Chouhan, continues to face proceedings.  According to the prosecution's case, the victim girl had traveled to Goa’s Calangute beach without informing her family. She allegedly met Praveena Ramesh Chouha, who gained her trust, took her to a guest house at Candolim, locked her inside a room, and sexually assaulted her.

The prosecution alleged that between January 8 and January 10, 2026, Chouhan called his friends—Akshaya Pawa and Anil Rathod—and that all three men repeatedly assaulted the minor. The victim subsequently escaped, returned home, and a complaint was initially lodged at the Shikaripura Rural Police Station in Karnataka after she was found to be pregnant. The matter was later transferred to the Calangute Police Station, where an FIR was registered for the alleged rape by multiple persons, gang rape of minor, wrongful confinement.

However, the court scrutinized the charge sheet and found severe deficiencies in the case made against the two co-accused as the court noted that in the initial FIR details and earlier statements—including the complaint registered by the father of the victim and statements given to police—the victim did not name Pawar or Rathod. While she made passing references to two other individuals in certain subsequent statements, she never identified them by name.

The court further noted that neither the Shikaripura police nor the Calangute police conducted a Test Identification Parade to verify if Pawar and Rathod were indeed the individuals allegedly called to the room. The court highlighted that there was no record of how or on what basis the police zeroed in on and arrested the two men.

A forensic DNA analysis conducted by the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory in Hubli on the aborted fetus confirmed prime accused Praveena Chouhan as the biological father and ruled out any genetic link to Pawar and Rathod.

The owner of the Candolim guest house stated to the police that she had no recollection of the trio or the girl ever checking in, nor was there any entry in the guest register. The court also noted that no CCTV footage had been retrieved or examined.

Rejecting the prosecution’s contention that trial-stage roving inquiries should be avoided, the court held that at the stage of framing charges, the material on record must be capable of sustaining a conviction if unrebutted.

Concluding that there was no prima facie material against Pawar and Rathod to frame charges for rape and abduction/wrongful confinement, the court ordered their formal discharge.