Delhi Court Acquits man of marital rape, says relations concordant

Court acquits man of rape, says relations consensual  

Nirnimesh Kumar

Says complainant’s testimony ‘not trustworthy, full of doubt’

A Delhi court has acquitted a man of the charge of raping a married woman, saying that the woman had established physical relations with him of her own volition.
According to the prosecution, the accused had contacted the woman over phone identifying himself as a private bank functionary and asked her whether she required a loan. The woman declined the loan offer but they continued to remain in touch over the phone.

‘Voluntarily left house’

One day the accused took her forcibly to a hotel and sexually assaulted her there, threatening that he would reveal her illicit relationship with him to her husband, said the complainant.
Dismissing the charges, Additional Sessions Judge Ramesh Kumar II said: “From the meticulous examination of prosecutrix it gets established that the prosecutrix had a consensual relationship with the accused. She voluntarily left her house at odd hours, leaving behind her children and husband sleeping in the house, accompanied him to different places in and outside Delhi, stayed with him and established physical relations with him.”
As per prosecutrix, the accused visited her house for the first time in September 2012, and on that visit he gave her a mobile phone and asked her to contact him on that number. When her husband came to know of the conversation between them, he got angry and smashed the mobile phone. The husband and the father of the woman also scolded the accused and asked him not to talk to the prosecutrix.
However, the Judge dismissed the story. “It is not believable that on the one hand the prosecutrix was not inclined to talk with the accused and on other, she accepted the mobile phone given to her by the accused to facilitate her conversation with him. And not only that, after the said phone was smashed by her husband, she continued her conversations with the accused,” the Judge said.
“It also does not appeal to reason that on the night of June 29, 2013, pursuant to the call of accused, the prosecutrix immediately went to meet him, leaving behind her children and husband sleeping in the house... the reason for leaving the house as stated by the prosecutrix was that she was threatened by the accused. And for that reason she went to a gali as the accused had promised to return her photographs, and also threatened her that he would disclose her photos and relations with him to her husband... this is not believable. Had there been such a threat, the prosecutrix would not have gone there to meet the accused. Rather, she would be expected to wake up her husband and tell him about the call made by the accused,” the Judge said

‘Accompanied accused’

“It is also not comprehensible that the prosecutrix would accompany the accused to different places i.e. Agra, Vrindavan and Mathura... or that the accused would take her photograph outside the Taj Mahal without her approval and consent. After returning to Delhi, the accused dropped her near her mother’s house at Sant Nagar. The said circumstances also clearly establish the consensual relations of the prosecutrix,” the Judge further said.
“The testimony of the prosecutrix is not trustworthy and full of doubt. In the light of testimony of the prosecutrix, I am of the opinion that there is no ground for convicting the accused for the alleged offences. At this stage, this court is of the firm opinion that the prosecution has failed to prove the charges under Section 365 (kidnapping)/376 (rape)/506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC against the accused beyond reasonable doubt. Accordingly, this court acquits accused Sanjeev Kumar from the charges under Sections 365/376/506 of the IPC,” the Judge said, while acquitting the accused.

                                            Published on: The Hindu