Court asks French consular official to face trial in rape case

Refusing to discharge a French consular official from the case in which he has been charged with raping his three-and-a-half year old daughter, a court in Bangalore has directed him to face the trial.

The Special Court for Offences Against Children here refused to discharge Pascal Mazurier, consular attache to Consulate General of France, with Judge Shubha Gowdar ruling that there was sufficient evidence for him to face trial and fixing January 24 for framing of charges.

The French official had filed an application seeking discharge from the case contending that there was no necessity of a trial since the investigation so far had not proved his involvement in the offence.

However, special public prosecutor B T Venkatesh contended that Mazurier's involvement could be proved in the course of the trial.

Mauzurier's counsel claimed his client was "innocent" as the DNA test had shown to be negative but Venkatesh countered it saying that the result itself was under question.

The court posted the case to January 24 to frame charges against Mazurier.

Pascal was arrested on June 19, 2012 for allegedly raping his daughter, based on a complaint filed by his wife, a Keralite.