Court acquits man accused of raping and abducting girl

“In view of the nature of various statements of the girl and considering her conduct during this whole episode,the testimony given by her before this court not only seems to be improbable but also does not inspire any confidence at all.

“It becomes evident that the girl was a willing party to the elopement with the accused,solemnisation of marriage with him and the sexual intercourse between the two,” the court said.

The ASJ also held,”there are material contradictions in her testimony before this court and her previous statements given to police as well as to the magistrate and I consider it disastrous to place any reliance upon her testimony.”

The court also rejected the contention of the police that the girl was 15-year-old at the time of the incident and even if she had eloped with the accused of her own free will,her consent was not valid as she was a minor and the man should be held guilty for the offence of abduction and rape.

“In my opinion,the prosecution has failed to lead any concrete evidence to demonstrate that the girl was below the age of 16 years or 18 years when she eloped with the accused and indulged in sexual intercourse with him,” the judge said.

According to police,the accused had kidnapped the girl when she had gone to market in Dabri on November 24,2011 and after marrying her,he had taken her to Gujarat where he raped her.

When the accused came to know that a case has been registered against him,he along with the girl went to a police station here and was arrested on December 1,2011.

The court,in its order,noted that the girl had changed her stand several times and she had stated different facts before the police,magistrate and the sessions judge.

The girl,in her statement to the police,had said sheet the accused in the market and after confessing his love for her,he married her at a temple and took her to Gujarat where he maintained physical relations with her.

“In this statement,the girl has though stated that she was taken away by the accused,yet she does not say that he solemnised marriage with her by force or that she was not a willing party to the marriage. From her statement,it also appears that she willingly accompanied the accused to Gujarat thereafter,” the court said.

The girl,however,gave a different story before the magistrate who had recorded her statement and she had said that she had gone to Gujarat with the accused and after returning to Delhi,she married him of her own free will. But,while deposing before the sessions court,the girl said that she had gone to the market with the accused’ aunt who had forcibly sent her with him.

“The testimony of the girl before this court besides containing material improvements upon her earlier statement,is also far from being credible,reliable or trustworthy. She has given three different versions of the incident in her three statements and has not struck to one version,” the court said,while acquitting the man.