BENGALURU: Former French diplomat Pascal Mazurier (44), who was facing charges of raping his minor daughter, was acquitted by a special court in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
Pascal, who was the Deputy Head of Chancery at the French consulate here, was booked under POCSO Act for allegedly sexually assaulting his three-and-half-year-old daughter in June 2012.
The 50th Additional City Civil and Sessions Court judge B S Rekha acquitted Pascal stating that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges against him.
He had sought the French government’s help to expedite the trial in the high profile case.
According to Pascal’s lawyer S Mahesh, during investigation, the police had not found any evidence to prove that he had committed the crime. Instead of closing the case by filing a B-report, they went ahead and filed a chargesheet, he said.
Pascal married Suja Jones, who hails from Kerala, in France on October 20, 2001. They have three children. The family moved to Bengaluru in 2008 and were living in Vasanthnagar.
He was accused of raping his second daughter. Initially, the case was registered at High Grounds police station and later transferred to Cubbon Park police station Pascal was arrested and later released on bail.
After the judgment, a visibly happy Pascal only said, “I will comment once after I receive a copy of the judgment.”
Special Public Prosecutor B T Venkatesh said, “We will take a final call on filing an appeal against the acquittal after going through the judgment.”