HC sets free two men accused of raping colleague

Delhi High Court has set free two men of the charge of raping their colleague, saying there was "inconsistency" in the woman's version about the incident.
Holding that the two convicts, who have been in custody since June 2009, "deserve the benefit of doubt", Justice S P Garg directed their release from jail immediately.
"...Nothing has come on record to show if during her employment in the factory for about a month, the appellants had an evil eye on her or had attempted any time to outrage her modesty. No complaint whatsoever was filed by the victim against any of the appellants any time.

"Considering the inconsistent and conflicting versions narrated by the prosecutrix (woman) at different stages of investigation, conviction and sentence of the appellants cannot be sustained in the absence of independent corroboration. The appellants deserve benefit of doubt," the court said.
The court's verdict came on an appeal filed by the duo who had challenged their conviction and 10 year jail term awarded by the trial court here in July 2014. Besides the sentence, the two were also fined Rs 10,000 each.
The high court set aside the trial court's order and said that "on perusal of statements of the prosecution witnesses and various exhibits on record, they revealed infirmities or inconsistencies which have emerged on record making it unsafe to base conviction on the solitary testimony of the prosecutrix without independent corroboration".

As per the police, the woman was raped by the two when she went to the factory premises of one of the accused on June 14, 2009. On the day of the alleged incident, she had gone there to collect her wages, police had said.
One of the accused during the trial had claimed innocence and told the court that the physical relations with the woman were with her consent.