The Uttar Pradesh government will approach Allahabad High Court against an Ayodhya court verdict on Thursday that acquitted 72-year-old Samajwadi Party politician Moin Khan of gang-rape charges, sources said.
Moin, also known as Moeed, and his domestic help Raju Khan had been arrested in July 2024 for allegedly gang-raping a 12-year-old Dalit girl two-and-a-half months earlier and recording the crime in a mobile phone.
On Thursday, Pocso court judge Nirupama Vikram ruled that Moin’s role was unproven but convicted Raju of rape and awarded him a 20-year jail term and a ₹50,000 fine.
“We had sufficient evidence against Moeed,” public prosecutor Vinod Upadhyaya said on Saturday. “The government will move high court.”
Upadhyaya said the state would also seek a life term for Raju.
Moin will remain in jail because he is accused under the Gangster Act in a case relating to the land mafia.
His lawyer Sayeed Khan said Moin had already approached the high court challenging his imprisonment under the Gangster Act. He accused the police of framing Moin in the gang-rape case because of his political affiliation.
Sayeed said the girl had initially told a magistrate that “Mohit” had raped her first and “the police concluded it was Moeed aka Moin aka Mohid”.
He claimed a DNA test had exonerated Moin. “They sent his mobile phone to a forensic lab but it was found that no video had been made with it,” he said.
“Raju’s DNA report was positive. Later, we told the court that ‘Mohit’ is a relative of the girl and should be booked. But her family refused to file a case against him.”
Samajwadi president Akhilesh Yadav said: “The government has already bulldozed a bakery owned by Moin and a house belonging to his brother. How will the government compensate his losses?”