Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru
Mangaluru, Aug 18: A woman who had allegedly been on the run for nearly 15 years in a case registered under the Prevention of Immoral Traffic Act (PITA) has been arrested after a fingerprint match helped police establish her identity.
The accused, identified as Safiya, 53, wife of the late Abubakar, was arrested by personnel of the Mangaluru City Women’s Police Station on Tuesday, August 18, and produced before the court, which remanded her to judicial custody.
The case dates back to Crime No. 09/2011 registered at the Mangaluru City women’s police station under relevant sections of the Prevention of Immoral Traffic Act. The case was subsequently tried before the 3rd JMFC Court, Mangaluru, as Split CC No. 02/2014.
The matter remained pending before the court for a prolonged period as LPC No. 10/2019. The court had issued several Long Pending Case (LPC) warrants directing the accused to appear. However, she allegedly failed to appear and remained untraceable for nearly 15 years.
According to police, the woman had allegedly concealed her identity as well as her husband’s name and address when the original case was registered and when she was arrested at the time.
She had reportedly identified herself as Ayesha, 36, wife of Hasanabba, residing at Bangregudde House, Gurupura, Mangaluru, and had allegedly furnished false information to the authorities.
Police later established that her actual name was Safiya, 53, wife of the late Abubakar, with an address in Moodbidri taluk, Mangaluru, as mentioned in the police report. She had allegedly changed her identity and address and remained concealed to evade arrest and court proceedings.
As part of efforts to establish her identity, police obtained her fingerprints and sent them to the fingerprint experts, Fingerprint Unit, Mangaluru, for examination.
The fingerprint experts reportedly compared her prints with those preserved in the records of Crime No. 09/2011 of the Mangaluru City women’s police station and found a match.
The fingerprint report thus helped police establish that the woman identified as Safiya was the same person who had earlier been booked in the case under the name Ayesha.
Following the confirmation, women’s police station personnel arrested her on August 18 and produced her before the competent court. The court subsequently ordered her judicial remand, bringing an end to her nearly 15-year evasion in the long-pending case.