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Britons in Indian child abuse case freed from jail
30 Jul 2008 13:53:20 GMT
Source: Reuters
MUMBAI, July 30 (Reuters) - Two Britons acquitted on charges of sodomising young boys in Mumbai were released from an Indian jail on Wednesday after two years in prison, their lawyer said.

Duncan Grant and Allan John Waters had successfully appealed against a 2006 verdict sentencing them to six years in prison on charges of sodomy and assault.

A court in Mumbai acquitted them last Thursday, saying witness testimony against them was unreliable.

They were released from prison in Nagpur, a city in the same state as Mumbai, along with William D'Souza, an Indian jailed in the same case, said Taraq Sayed, their lawyer.

"They plan to stay back here and wait for the Supreme Court to say if they can stay or go," Sayed said by telephone.

On Tuesday, Childline Indian Foundation, an organisation helping children in distress, approached India's Supreme Court to ask for the acquittal to be overturned. The court will decide whether to hear the case next week, a Childline spokesman said.

The men were accused of attacking boys in their care at the Anchorage Shelter for homeless boys in south Mumbai. Grant established the shelter in 1995 with money raised in Britain.

Grant had been wanted by Indian police since 2002 after young boys staying at the shelter complained of sexual abuse.

He was extradited from Tanzania to Britain in 2004 following an Interpol red alert and was arrested at Mumbai airport after he arrived from London in June 2005.

Defence lawyers said the Britons were innocent and had been framed by a known paedophile, who paid boys at the home to press sodomy charges. (Reporting by Jonathan Allen; Editing by Valerie Lee)
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