By Team FI
The Bangalore sessions court on Monday framed charges against Pascal Mazurier, a French consulate employee, for allegedly raping his three-and-a-half year old daughter.
Sessions Court judge Shubha Gowdar who is also the special judge for child rights, formally framed the charges against Pascal Mazurier for offenses punishable under Indian Penal Code Section 376 (punishment for rape). The judge adjourned the case until February 15 when she will fix a date for the trial.
Pascal Mazurier, who is employed at the Bangalore French Consulate, pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges of raping his daughter.
In January this year, the session’s court had rejected Pascal Mazurier’s plea to cancel all charges against him. The court had observed that there was sufficient evidence for framing charges against the French national.
Mazurier’s Indian wife Suja Jones filed a police complaint against him after her daughter’s medical examination confirmed rape. According to child rights and women’s rights activists in Bangalore, Jones has been facing systematic character assassination by her husband, his powerful friends and men’s rights activists in India for seeking justice for her girl child.