Playing the Good Samaritan cost 22-yearold Vijay Jadhav dear. His fault — he helped a pregnant woman in labour reach the safety of a hospital, only to find himself being accused of rape of a minor and subsequently thrown behind bars. Police investigations over the past three months found the case to be false and on Friday he was released on bail — much to the relief of his elder brothers who have been running from pillar to post to secure his release.Jadhav was arrested by cops from Bund Garden police station, on May 17, after a doctor at Sassoon General Hospital told them that he had come with a girl who had delivered a baby and then abandoned the duo. Construing this amounted to rape, he was booked under Section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and also under sections of the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) — on the basis of the woman’s declaration that she was aged between 15 and 17 years at the time of admission to the hospital.On March 25, a truck driver by profession and resident of Kalyan, who had come to the city on work, was waiting outside the Pune station at 1am for his train, scheduled at 3 am, to return home, when he heard screams. Rushing in direction of the sound, he found awoman crying pain. “She begged me for help and so I took her to Sassoon in a rickshaw and got her admitted,” he recounted.Soon after his arrest, police investigation dispelled the misconception that the woman was a minor. Her Aadhaar card showed she hailed from Solapur and was 21 years old. She had been married off at the age of 12 and has a four-year-old son who lives with her step-mother currently. On the basis of this revelation, Jadhav’s lawyer, Yashpal Purohit applied for bail. The bail was granted on May 24. However, Jadhav’s brothers could not raise the funds. “My one arm is not functioning properly. Vijay was the one who worked and earned most of the time. The last three months have been harrowing,” said Santosh Jadhav, brother of the accused, who struggled to find the money to free his brother.After much convincing, on Thursday, July 19, Santosh was able to borrow a large part of the bail money required at a very high interest rate, knowing well that returning the loan will be a huge burden.A day later, the cops submitted to the court that no evidence had been found against Jadhav. “During the investigation of the case till date, we have found no witness who has seen the complainant and the accused together. We also checked at the lodge where the girl said she was raped in her initial complaint but found no matching entry,” the police report stated.“The girl changed her statement and is now saying Jadhav had nothing to do with her. She has named another guy in her second statement. We are still investigating the case and looking for the guy she mentioned,” investigating officer, police sub-inspector Ketaki Chavan told Mirror.The cops told the court that they want to close the case against Jadhav but are unable to do so as they are yet to receive the DNA report of the newborn. They have sent three reminders in the last three months to the forensic lab but in vain.Yet to be acquitted by the court, Jadhav who emerged from the jail on Friday, told Mirror, “It has been a nightmare being behind bars, not knowing what was going to happen to me. Everything has changed now. I work hard to make ends meet and I know for a fact that I am going to be scared of helping anyone again.”Appointed by the legal aid to fight the case, Purohit told Mirror that they are awaiting the DNA report. “The report will show that Jadhav is not the father of the child the complainant delivered. The real culprit will be caught soon and my client can be released from the charges brought against him. It is unfortunate that he had to be behind bars when he did nothing wrong.”

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