5 Hours, 500 Questions: Defence Grills Varnika Kundu Over Stalking

Kundu was asked if she informed her mother of the incident, the music she plays and about her friend Abhinav.

DJ Varnika Kundu, who was stalked by Haryana BJP president Subhash Barala’s son Vikas, was questioned on Monday for nearly five hours by the defence counsel and was asked some 500 questions during the court hearing, The Times of India reported.

Kundu revealed in the questioning that her car had broken down the day before the incident, on 3 August, and on 4 August, she was dropped off in Chandigarh’s Sector 8 at around 11:15 pm to pick up her car, an hour before the incident.

Some of the questions Kundu was asked were:

1. Your favourite music
2. What kind of music is played by and liked by you?
3. Did you notice or were aware about the number of CCTV cameras installed at various locations?
4. Where is your residence?
5. When did you call the PCR?
6. Did you inform your mother about the incident?
7. Was one advocate present along with you and your father in the police station when the FIR was registered?
8. How long have you known your friend Abhinav and what does he do?
9. Did you mention the kidnapping to the PCR or while recording statements?
10. Was your mobile on recording mode?

Rabindra Pandit, the defence counsel, claimed that Kundu's mobile tower location was found to be in Fatehpur village in Ropar district one hour before the incident.

She, however, denied the claim. "I was never in Ropar", said Kundu.

Later, Kundu elaborated on her experience in a Facebook post stating:

They tried to be nice, then aggressive, then intimidate me with a barrage of their so-called supporters, then try to twist my words around, and even made attempts to drag my personal life into this! (Yeah apparently the sort of music I play and produce was relevant to my testimony, according to the defence lawyer).

Varnika Kundu

Kundu also said that the defence was not able to make up a narrative based on their falsities about the case.

Kundu’s father, IAS officer VS Kundu, also wrote a post about his daughter’s testimony, saying that she stood up to the bullying and pressure tactics being used against her.

“A crowd of fifty (people) surrounded her while her cross-examination was going on... Varnika was unfazed by all this, and stuck to the truth in spite of repeated provocations. She makes us proud,” wrote VS Kundu.

It was also reported that the defence lawyer had prepared his notes in Urdu so the prosecution lawyer Manu Kakkar could not read them.