After spending 12 years in jail for ‘raping’ daughter, Madhya Pradesh man acquitted

Acquitting the man on January 25, a Bench of Justices Sujoy Paul and Vivek Jain noted: “Unfortunately and sadly appellant remained in custody from 21/03/2012. The prosecution has miserably failed to establish its case on merits.”

Advocate Vivek Aggarwal, the lawyer for the accused, told the court that the daughter’s statement is “shaky and cannot be said to be of sterling quality.”

Aggarwal told the HC that during her cross examination before the trial court, she had admitted that her father did not have any sexual relations with her, and that he had objected to a relationship that she was in.

Aggarwal added that she then did a “U-turn” on this statement, and that this eventually led to the guilty verdict in the trial court.

The High Court, after perusing the statements of the daughter, noted that she “admitted that she had romantic and physical relations with a boy and her father has seen her talking with that boy on many occasions.”

“Due to said scolding, she along with that boy decided to lodge a report in the police station. She further admitted that her father has not developed any sexual relation with her and her relation of that kind is only with the said boy,” the court noted.

The HC noted that it was “clear like noon day that her statement by no stretch of imagination can be said to be of sterling quality”.

“The story so narrated by her does not seem to be natural and it appears that the appellant was roped in because he raised eye-brows about the conduct of his daughter,” the judgment read.