The court said after the December 16 gangrape of a 23- year-old girl in a moving bus here, it lead to the creation of an atmosphere that "the mere statement of a lady that she has been raped, came to be taken as gospel truth, the accused arrested and chargesheeted".
"This lead to an unprecedented surge in filing of false rape cases...It is these false cases which play havoc with the crime statistics, leading to the labelling of Delhi as a 'rape capital'," Additional Sessions Judge Virender Bhat said, while acquitting Bhopal Sharma of the charge of sexually assaulting his maid.
It also noted that "it is a matter of intense regret that even the frail, sick and aged persons are not spared from the false allegations of rape".
According to the prosecution, Sharma and his neighbour Anita had become friends when they met in a hospital here where his ailing wife was admitted. After his wife's death, Anita had arranged for the woman, who was in her 30s, to work as a maid in his home.
Thereafter, he continued to have sexual relations with her on the pretext of marrying her, the maid had alleged, adding that she lodged the police complaint on October 11, 2012 after Sharma expressed his unwillingness to keep his promise.
However, during the trial, the woman turned hostile and said she had levelled false allegations on the advice of Anita and another person Kuldeep.