Two years after a video clip of two girls thrashing three men on a bus in Rohtak, Harayana went viral, a court discharged the accused on Friday as the police did not have enough evidence to put the men on trial.
The video clip first surfaced in December 2014, where two girls, later dubbed the 'Rohtak sisters' get into a heated argument with a man, even as one of them uses her belt to hit him.
The sisters claimed that the men attempted to molest them, and they fought back. Other passengers of the bus were seen staying put in their seats, as the incident occurred.
According to reports, the Haryana police which investigated the case said that the bus passengers who came forward supported the three men, while a polygraph test also did not indicate that the accused were lying.
The court reportedly heard 40 witnesses in favour of the accused boys, following which it discharged them.
The three men - Kuldeep, Deepak and Mohit are now back in their village, and spoke to NDTV.
"Both Kuldeep and I were interested in joining the army. We had already cleared the medical and physical tests. But we were debarred from sitting for the written exam due to this case...Now we are too old (to apply again)," Deepak told the media outlet.
According to the men's version, they were on their way home after writing an exam, when a small scuffle broke out between them and an elderly lady.
"We had an argument on that and they abused us. Suddenly they started to hit us with a belt. We are very satisfied now that finally the court has accepted, we are innocent," Kuldeep told NDTV.
However, the two women, Arti and Pooja Kumar, said that they were "disappointed" with the court's verdict, and planned to appeal against the order in the High Court.
When the incident first broke out, the girls were invited to several television channels, where they narrated their ordeal even as debates about women’s safety in the country raged on.
The bus driver and the conductor were also suspended.
Another video also surfaced later which showed the Rohtak sisters arguing with a man in Mumbai after which they began beating him.