Ahmedabad gang rape: Prosecutor resigns

In a new twist to the alleged gang rape-cum-suicide of an Ahmedabad girl on New Year's eve, the Special Public Prosecutor has declined to handle the matter in court, citing the wishes of the victim's family.

SPP Chetan Shah, in a letter to the state law secretary on Saturday, said, "The family of the victim does not want him to represent the case and he wished to resign from handling the matter any further."

Shah told PTI he 'voluntarily' decided to resign from the case as the family of the victim had conveyed through media reports that they did not want him to fight the case.

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Moreover, Shah said he was also bothered by media reports that 'the family members were apprehensive of his handling the matter after they found out that he was appointed in place of another advocate Chetan Raval, whose name had been cleared as the assistant public prosecutor by the Gujarat government on January 23'.

However, it is not yet clear if the government has accepted Shah's resignation.

Meanwhile, a senior public prosecutor of the sessions court said, "It is the prerogative of the state government to appoint the Special Public Prosecutor in any case and not the personal wish of the family."