Overview
- Uttar Pradesh prosecutors say they will move the Allahabad High Court to challenge Moid Khan’s acquittal and seek a longer term for convicted co-accused Raju Khan.
- The Ayodhya special POCSO court acquitted the SP leader and sentenced his domestic help to 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment after foetal DNA matched Raju Khan and not Moid Khan.
- Officials said a certified copy of the judgment is being obtained before drafting the appeal, which will be forwarded through the District Magistrate for filing.
- The case began in July 2024 after a 12-year-old was found pregnant and underwent a legal termination, with prosecutors alleging the assaults were recorded on a phone, though no video surfaced in court.
- Khan’s family and Samajwadi Party leaders allege political targeting and object to the demolition of a bakery and other property by the district administration, and Moid Khan remains jailed in a separate Gangster Act case.