The defence had pointed out as girl had squandered her hostel fees on other purposes and had admitted to pawning her jewellery on 1 January 1996, weeks before eloping. The defence said that there was lack of evidence that she had resisted, or indicted to the accused persons that she was an unwilling participant. Thus, rape could not be proved. The only other notable witness, apart from the victim, was accused #42 who had been remanded. She had turned into a prosecution witness. The defence called the victim to be deemed untrustworthy citing past cases.
