A Delhi court has acquitted a man who remained on trial for three years on charges of raping his minor daughter. The order came on July 4 after the girl, now 12, herself told the court that a false case had been registered against him on the insistence of her mother. The girl told the court that her mother wanted to teach her husband a lesson following a fight between the couple.
The mother had filed a complaint with the police, saying that she saw her husband disrobing their daughter and trying to rape her on July 6, 2014. The next day, an FIR was registered under Sections 354A (sexual harassment), 376 (rape), 511 (attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonments) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 18 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO). This led to the father's arrest.
A charge sheet was filed in August 2014. The case took a dramatic turn when the girl did not support the case of the prosecution, saying that on the date of the "incident", her father had returned home under the influence of liquor. Since he started quarrelling and beating the two, the mother filed the complaint against him, the girl said. Her brother also turned hostile and said that their father had not committed any offence.
"For the failure of the witnesses to support the case of the prosecution, it is evident that the prosecution has miserably failed to bring home the guilt of the accused. Accordingly, the accused is acquitted of the charge," Additional Sessions Judge Sanjay Garg said. While the mother did not allow the girl's internal examination, an external examination had not revealed any external injuries.
JUSTICE DELIVERED
- “For the failure of the witnesses to support the case of the prosecution, it is evident that the prosecution has miserably failed to bring home the guilt of the accused. Accordingly, the accused is acquitted of the charge,” said Additional Sessions Judge Sanjay Garg.
