A man hailing from Uttar Pradesh facing charges of abducting and raping a girl, with whom he later got married, has been acquitted by a Delhi court which said it would be "disastrous" if it relied on her testimony as she had given different versions about the alleged incident.
Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Virender Bhat freed the man, who was accused of abducting the girl, forcibly marrying and raping her in November 2011, on the ground that she was a "willing party" in eloping with him.
"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.
