17 years after abduction, victim becomes lawyer, presents closing argument in own case: Report

On September 17 this year, a trial court awarded life imprisonment to eight of the 14 accused. While two dacoits died during the trial, four others were acquitted due to lack of evidence.

A seven-year-old boy was kidnapped from a medical shop run by his father and uncle in Kheragarh town of Agra district by some dacoits. In a curious twist of fate, 17 years later, the same boy presented the closing arguments in his own case—this time as his own lawyer.

According to a report by The Indian Express, Harsh Garg, now 24, was kidnapped on the evening of February 10, 2007. When his father and uncle tried to intervene, the dacoits opened fire, injuring his father in the right shoulder. The dacoits left in their car with Harsh, instructing the kin to start arranging ransom money.

On September 17 this year, a trial court awarded life imprisonment to eight of the 14 accused. While two dacoits died trial, four others were acquitted due to lack of evidence.

At the end of the hearing, Harsh, who is now a lawyer, gave the closing argument for 55 minutes with the permission of the judge. He also responded to the objections raised by the defence counsel.

Talking about his decision to become a lawyer, Harsh told the publication that his regular presence at the trial since 2015 acted as an inspiration. He got his law degree from an Agra-based college in 2022.

Harsh said that the court order was "won after many hardships“ and added, "I attended every hearing and even started assisting the government counsel in the case, including travelling to other states to locate some of the witnesses. I ensured that all witnesses appeared on their scheduled dates. I tracked down retired police personnel and made sure they appeared in court to give their statements."

Talking about the immediate aftermath of his abduction, Harsh told the publication that the dacoits took him from Agra to Chambal. They asked for a ransom of Rs 55 lakh from his family.

Police started investigation in the case and arrested two accused with the help of inputs from local intelligence. These arrests prompted the dacoits to constantly change their location along with Harsh. In the period of almost a month in which Harsh remained in the custody of the dacoits, he was taken to a new hideout almost every day. These hideouts were spread across UP, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. Harsh recalled that during this period, the dacoits slapped him once when he insisted on going home.

Finally, on May 6, 2007 police received a tip-off that the dacoits were hiding in MP's Shivpuri district. They set up check-up points to catch the accused.

While moving Harsh to a new hideout on a motorcycle, two of the dacoits spotted a police team checking vehicles. Fearing arrest, they abandoned the child on the road and fled. Harsh was rescued and reunited with his parents the following day.

All the 14 accused in the case were arrested by the police within a year.