Ajmer rape case

The 1992 Ajmer scandal was a series of gangrapes and blackmailing in which 250 female students in either schools/colleges aged between 11 and 20 years old were reportedly victims of this crime. Most of the victims belonged to Sophia Senior Secondary School of Ajmer, which continues to operate to this day.

Speaking to "ThePrint", Then-SP CID-Crime Branch, "N.K. Patni", now retired, stated that "this high-profile case came at a time when communal tensions were rising in India. L.K. Advani’s rath yatra had taken place a couple of years earlier and it was just months before the Babri Masjid’s demolition. This was a big concern back then — how to not communalise the matter as the main accused were Muslims and the majority of the victims were Hindus. The lab technicians and a few other accused were Hindus,"

The perpetrators were a group of men led by Farooq and Nafis Chishty, extended members of the Khadim family that oversees the caretaking of the Ajmer Sharif Dargah. Over the course of multiple years, ending in 1992, victims were lured into a remote farmhouse or bungalow, where they were sexually assaulted by one or several of the men. Additionally, the perpetrators took naked or otherwise revealing photographs of their victims, which were used to prevent the women from speaking out.

The story of the scandal came to light with an article published by Dainik Navajyoti, a local newspaper, which detailed the events of the crimes, and featured some of the images taken by the rapists. Simultaneously, police launched an inquiry into the scandal. It has been alleged that local authorities were aware of the events up to a year prior but chose to stall taking legal action.

In September 1992, 18 serial offenders were charged in court out of which one, Purshottam, died by suicide in 1994. The first eight to go to trial were sentenced to life in prison; however, four of them were later acquitted by the Rajasthan High Court in 2001. In 2007, a fast track court in Ajmer convicted Farooq Chishti, but in 2013, the High Court released him on time served.

"The accused were in a position of influence, both socially and financially, and that made it even more difficult to persuade the girls to come forward and depose," says retired Rajasthan D.G.P. Omendra Bhardwaj, who was then posted as the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Ajmer. The Supreme Court noted in this case, "Unfortunately many of the victims who appeared as witnesses turned hostile and one can appreciate the reason why they did not want to depose against the appellants as that would have exposed them as well, and would have adversely affected their future life." Few also linked it to the other cases such as that of Dr. Mohammed Khalil Chisty, as known as an ISI member who was jailed in 1992 for a murder case, also in Ajmer.

Incidents
The blackmail operation was discovered to have been carried out by a chain of serial offenders. A specific group of local influential men was targeting young girls: for example, firstly Farooq Chistee trapped one of the girls from a high school in Ajmer and took sexual photos of her. Then, the accused blackmailed the girl into introducing them to her classmates and friends. Eventually, other girls would be raped, sexually exploited, and have their pictures taken at a farmhouse. The cycle continued so forth, with the gang continuing to expand its operations and victimize an increasing number of girls. They photographed the girls in compromising positions, using the images to exploit the victims.

Investigation
The editor of Navjyoti, Deenbandhu Chaudhary, had admitted that the local law enforcement authorities were aware of the scandal almost since a year before the story broke, but they allowed the local politicians to stall the investigations.

Chaudhary stated that they finally decided to go ahead with the story because that seemed to be the only way to prod the local administration into action. Finally, the police lodged an FIR against eight of the accused. Further investigations led to 18 men in total being charged and tensions ran high in the town for several days.

People took to the streets to protest and tension in the community grew. A three-day bandh was imposed and subsequent news of the widespread exploitation and blackmail started coming in. Retired Rajasthan DGP Omendra Bhardwaj, who was the Deputy Inspector General of Police in Ajmer at that time, stated that the social and financial aristocracy of the accused stopped many more victims from coming forward. Another realisation was that many of the victims had already died by suicide.

The number of victims was believed to be several hundred. It is also believed that the culprits may have had links to agencies like Pakistan's ISI.

The Rajasthan police's Special Operations Group (SOG) arrested Saiyed Saleem Chishtee, 42, one of the accused from Khalid Mohalla in Ajmer town on 4 January 2012.

Accused charged
All of the 19 accused were charged with abduction. The main accused Farooq Chishti was President of the Ajmer Youth Congress. Nafis Chishtee was the vice-president of Ajmer Indian National Congress and Anwar Chishtee was the Joint Secretary of Ajmer Indian National Congress. Moijullah (alias Puttan), Ishrat Ali, Anwar Chishtee, and Shamshuddin (alias Meradona) were also sentenced by the court. Absconder Suhail Chishtee hid for 26 years before surrendering. Absconder Salim Chishtee was arrested in 2012. Another main accused, Alamas, is still a fugitive.

Trial
According to the police and women-focused NGOs, it was difficult to build a case against the perpetrators, as most victims were reluctant to come forward. However, the photographs and videos used to blackmail the victims helped identify the accused and build the case against them.

Thirty victims were identified in the investigations. Out of these, only about a dozen filed cases, and ten later backed out. Only two victims pursued the case. Of the 18 accused who were charged with abduction and gang rape under the Indian Penal Code and Indecent Representation of Women, one has since died by suicide. In 2003, the Rajasthan High Court upheld the decision though it reduced the period of the sentence from life imprisonment to the period already served by him.

In 2004, the Supreme Court dismissed both appeals filed by the state, as well as the convicts. A bench comprising Justice N. Santosh Hegde and Justice BP Singh said, "Having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case, we are of the view that the ends of justice would be met if the sentence is reduced to ten years rigorous imprisonment."

Victims
After the rape, most victims experienced harassment and threats, with no support from society or their families. According to police investigations, about six victims allegedly took their own life suicide. Ajmer Mahila Samooh, who tried to take up the victim's cause, withdrew after receiving threats. Small-time tabloids were quite a sensation in Ajmer at that time. Many victims were even allegedly blackmailed further by these tabloids and local papers. They had access to the explicit images of the girls, and the owners and publishers sought money from the families of the girls to keep them hidden.

With every surrendering, sentencing, or any other development in the case (even after 30 years since the incident), the survivors had to return to court, causing them to relive the horror over and over.

Aftermath
The incident shocked the entire country. People took to the streets to protest, and communal tension grew. A three-day bandh was observed and much subsequent news of the widespread exploitation and blackmail started coming in. The police were also criticized for not acting even after having information about the ongoing sexual abuse. It had also stalled the case because the local politicians warned action against the accused would lead to massive community tension.

Musabbir Hussain, Joint Secretary of the Anjuman Committee which oversees the Ajmer Dargah, told Indian Express, "It’s a case that nobody in Ajmer wants to talk about because of the nature of the crime. It’s a blot on our city’s history."

Documentary
TV News Channel ZEE News aired a documentary "The Black Chapter of Ajmer" on July 16, 2023 regarding the case, which was temporarily available on Youtube before its subsequent removal the following day. This documentary is directed by Shailendra Pandey.