Dutchman pedophilic case transferred to Fast Track Court to expedite the trial

Expediting the criminal proceedings against Wilhelmus Weijdeveld, a Dutch national facing child pornography charges, a sessions court here has sent the case to a Fast Tract Court(FTC) for trial.

When Wilhelmus Weijdeveld, was produced before the principal sessions judge P Devadoss on March 19, the judge sent the matter to the FTC-IV here for trial. The matter will now come up before the FTC on March 26.

Arrested in November 2009, Wihelmus was granted conditional bail last month as the investigating agency had not filed the charge sheet within the mandatory 90- day period. He however, could not step out of the prison premises, as the magistrate court refused to accept the surety offered by Wilhelmus' house owner.

"Firstly, the court has refused to take the surety offer of his landlord; secondly, as the investigating agency has filed the charge sheet before the accused could comply with all bail conditions, the bail has now become ineffective. Wilhelmus has to approach the trial court (FTC) now for bail.

According to the Central Crime Branch(CCB) Officials, Wilhelmus' arrest came after the Interpol alerted the Chennai City Police that child pornographic materials were being uploaded onto the Internet from the city.

Police traced the link to Wilhelmus and arrested him.

Dutchman was earlier charged with sexually abating children more than sven years ago. Living in India for over 30 years and involved in the affairs of an orphanage at Mahabalipuram, Wilhelmus was out on bail all these years, when yet another case has been attributed to him.

Now he is facing charges for offenses punishable under the provisions of the Information Technology (IT) Act, and Once the trial commence in FTC, to be heard on a day-to-day basis.

- Asian Tribune -