A man, facing trial for allegedly raping and threatening to kill a married woman, was acquitted by a Delhi court after the complainant turned hostile and said physical relations between them were consensual.
Additional sessions judge Nivedita Anil Sharma acquitted Nazir, a resident of West Delhi, of the offences under various provisions of IPC including rape, abduction of a woman to compel her for marriage and criminal intimidation.
"There is no material on record to suggest that the prosecutrix (woman) was ever raped, abducted, beaten or threatened by accused Nazir. No case is made out against the accused as there is no incriminating evidence against him.
"Consequently, he is hereby acquitted..." the judge said, adding that the woman's deposition "cannot be treated as trustworthy and reliable".
While acquitting Nazir, the court said there was not an iota of evidence in the woman's deposition that she was raped.
"The prosecutrix (woman), who is the star witness, has turned hostile and has not supported the prosecution case and more importantly has not assigned any criminal role to Nazir.
"The court's precious time should not be wasted in recording the evidence of formal or official witnesses when the woman and her husband, the material witnesses, have not supported the prosecution case," the judge said.
According to the prosecution, the woman, who is married and has children, had lodged a complaint that she was abducted, beaten and raped by Nazir last August after which he threatened to kill her.
Nazir, who was living in the same building where the woman was residing, had forcibly taken her out of Delhi where he compelled her to marry him and raped her. When they returned to Delhi, he threatened to kill her entire family, according to the complaint.
The woman, however, changed her statement before the court by saying that she was friends with Nazir and had physical relations with him with her consent, adding that he was innocent and he had not raped her.
