Editor Mr.Mayank Rawat ( Chief Editor Mr. Rohit Mishra )
New Delhi: A Delhi court acquitted a man accused of raping a minor girl in 2022, observing that the prosecution failed to prove the guilt beyond reasonable doubt. The court of Additional Sessions Judge (POCSO) Pooja Talwar noted that the victim, on the contrary, testified that the relations between the two were consensual.The victim, when she entered the witness box, categorically deposed that she was 18 years old when physical relations were first established between her and the accused. The relations so established were consensual. The judge also noted that the mother of the victim testified before the court that, at the time of the registration of the FIR, the victim was an adult. She further admitted that she reduced the age of the victim when seeking admission to the school.According to the prosecution, the 17-year-old girl visited a wedding function in April 2021, where she met the accused, who was the brother-in-law of her sister. They became friends. In November 2021, for the first time, physical relations were established between her and the accused with her consent. Later, when she missed her periods, she consumed abortion medicine, and on January 28, 2022, she, along with the accused, went to the hospital and came to know that she was pregnant.The case was registered against the accused after the family members of the girl came to know about her pregnancy.Advocates Fahad Khan, appearing for the accused, submitted before the court that the child victim did not support the story of the prosecution and did not depose anything against the accused. The counsel also said that the victim simply stated that the accused is her fiancé and nothing wrong happened with her. She deposed that relations between them were established with her consent and at that time she had already completed 18 years of age.“…prosecution failed to prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt. Accordingly, accused Ravi Kumar is acquitted of the charges for the commission of the offences punishable under Section 4 POCSO Act and Section 376 IPC,” the judge concluded.
Mayank Rawat
