‘Everyone has right to fair trial & it’s my duty to defend them’
Times of India | 15 October 2025
Durgapur: "It is my professional duty to defend them," the woman lawyer tasked with defending the five Durgapur gang rape accused told TOI on Tuesday.
Pooja Kurmi, a criminal lawyer who has been fighting criminal cases for the past 10 years, is with the district legal aid services.
When the accused were produced in the Durgapur additional chief judicial magistrate's court on Sunday, and again on Monday, no lawyers were ready to defend them.
It was then that the accused were provided legal aid, and Pooja was tasked with defending them in court. The case will come up for hearing again on Oct 22 when all five accused will be produced in court.
"This is a heinous and grave offence. But having said that, as per our law, everybody has a right to a free and fair trial and to defend themselves in court.
My task is to do that, which I will. No lawyer has appeared for them; hence they have been provided free legal aid by the state as per law. If no lawyer appears in the future, then I will continue to defend them in court," the lawyer told TOI from Durgapur. Pooja has not spoken to the accused since they are in police custody.
Pooja said she did her schooling in Durgapur, which is also her birthplace, and studied law at Burdwan University.
But she is not daunted by this high-profile case. "Being a criminal lawyer, we have to argue for and against the accused in heinous crimes. All are tough cases. But yes, this is a very high-profile case and therefore tougher. I will try to do my best."
Asked how she plans to defend the accused in court, Pooja says she will take one step at a time. "I have just taken the brief. I need to understand the police findings before speaking on this."
Apart from criminal cases, she has recently been involved in Pocso cases in which minor victims or their kin are provided legal help by the state. "Not many are aware of their legal rights under the Pocso Act. We help de facto complainants (usually victims or their kin) to fight for their rights," the lawyer said.