I won’t lie that the verdict acquitting the accused actor in the actress assault case does not sting, and, like many, I too believe that justice has not been delivered to the survivor. But I also won’t lie that the court was wrong in coming out with this verdict. No, I am not saying that I don’t believe at all that he did it. There was a part of me that had really hoped that there would be strong evidence to connect him to this crime because he had proven time and again how cheap and vindictive he is, even going to the extent of slut-shaming the survivor in an interview given right after the incident.

However, I don’t know how this court, or any court, for that matter, was supposed to convict this guy based on the evidence produced by the police and the prosecution – all of which pointed only to a motive that he hated the survivor for revealing to his ex-wife his extramarital affair. (It is funny how he and his die-hard fans blame the survivor for breaking the family, while there is no blame attached to this man who was happily having an affair and is made to look like the victim who lost his family because of a meddling friend.)

However, till date, in all the evidence and arguments made in court that have been made accessible to the public, there are only stinky details of his affair and his reason for hating the survivor (reason enough to hate him, of course), but not one solidly connecting him to the crime. And without that, if a judge convicted him, it would easily be overthrown in a higher court. Because life is not “Jolly LLB” where the judge, only based on Arshad Warshi’s emotional appeals for justice, says, “You might be let go by a higher court, but in my court, you are being sent to prison.” And while there have been many judgements in our country where the shocking verdicts were absolutely in contrast to the solid evidence presented, in this case, no matter how lawful and fair the judge was, I don’t see how they could have come out with a verdict convicting him without questions of how that verdict was reached.

Even now, I see posts from politicians about how the government will appeal this verdict at a higher court, as if that is going to change this verdict. I mean, I don’t see how, when the evidence that was presented here is the same evidence that will be presented to a higher court as well. On what basis are they going to overthrow this verdict and convict this guy?

I guess what I am trying to say is that, at least in this case, the blame for justice not delivered should go completely to the police force who investigated this. Whether the actor himself was the one behind this, I do not know, and with an acquittal, I shouldn’t say. But there is no doubt that it was not a random crime, but a well-thought-out conspiracy, which sure had a mastermind, someone who got this done by the convicted criminals. It is pathetic that any evidence that must have been available were erased right at the beginning, thanks to the power of money, that now, eight years later, the only evidence against the accused is “He hated her.” At least in this case, no matter how biased the court is accused of being by people, I would place the blame only on the investigating authorities because they failed to provide any strong evidence that would have left no option for the court other than to punish the one behind this all.

At the end of the day, what stings the most is that after years of bravely fighting this, despite all the trauma, mockery, and hatred she has had to endure, she still has not found justice. The one who was actually behind her pain, whether it be this actor or someone else, still goes on without any tangible consequences, while she continues her fight for justice. And she has to make do with the moral support she receives from the section of the society that stands by her, while vengeful fans of the acquitted will do everything possible to make a mockery of her fight and hail the “hero” who went through “Agni Shuddhi.”

P.S. While a court acquittal essentially brands him innocent, which I am not going to question without further proof, he proved his cheapness yet again by coming out of the court and dragging his ex-wife’s name into the first sentence he spoke, accusing her of starting the conspiracy theory against him. But if you listen to the clip of her speaking at the event supporting the survivor, it is clear that she hasn’t named him or anyone. In fact, through this all, except for giving her statements to the police when asked by them, she has never named this guy in any interaction with the press or anyone else in public.

And her statement right at the beginning about this being a conspiracy against the actress is something that made sense. Whether the police linked that to him owing to his personal motives is something he should be asking the police, not her. Him using this acquittal to start yet another smear campaign against her, as he has done time and again, using a statement where his name wasn’t even used by her, shows how vengeful and desperate this guy is to see her fall. That too, after years of having affairs behind her back, locking her up at the prime of her youth and career, “because I don’t like my wife hugging another man even onscreen,” and leaving her on the streets with nothing. Seriously man, whether a court acquits you or not, whether you have thousands of shameless fans worshipping you or not, you have still lost, thanks to your own cheap statements and actions – come to terms with that. No amount of money is going to change that!

Also published on Medium.