A 58-year-old businessman has been convicted by a court here for raping a Delhi University student after abducting her in his car from outside her college in 2010.
Additional Sessions Judge Pawan Kumar Matto held Mukesh Singhal, a father of two daughters, guilty of raping the 17- year-old victim, a first-year honours student of a West Delhi college.
The court relied on the testimony of the girl and the medical records while convicting the man for the offences of rape, abduction and threatening to kill her under the IPC.
"Relying upon the statements of material witnesses i.E. prosecutrix and statement of doctor who has proved her MLC and in view of prompt arrest of the accused, registration of FIR, medical examination of prosecutrix, and of the accused ... I am inclined to hold that prosecution has successfully proved its case beyond reasonable doubt that accused Mukesh Singhal had forcibly kidnapped the prosecutrix, threatened to kill her and after putting her in the fear of her death. He has raped a minor girl...," the judge said.
The court is likely to pronounce order on sentence later this week.
The court also said Singhal had concocted the story that the victim had taken lift from him or demanded money from him.
According to the prosecution, the incident took place on the evening of August 4, 2010 when the girl was returning home from her college and Ashok Vihar resident Singhal stopped his car near her and asked the way to a hospital.
When the girl told him that she did not know about it, he dragged her in the car and threatened to kill her if she raised an alarm, it said, adding he took her to a secluded street near Moti Nagar in West Delhi and raped her.
When the man started his car, the victim jumped out of the running vehicle and shouted for help after which he was caught by the passers-by, beaten up by them and handed over to the police, it said.
Delhi Commission for Women's counsel Shubhra Mendiratta said the victim was under great shock and trauma after the incident and she had to counsel her several times.
During trial, Singhal denied the allegations levelled against him and claimed that the girl had taken a lift from him outside her college. He alleged that she started blackmailing and demanding money from him and on refusal, she falsely implicated him in the case.
The judge said the court was able to understand that after such an incident of rape, the victim who was a minor would have suffered a jolt. He also said the girl's testimony was reliable, trustworthy and inspired confidence.
The court said that though conviction can be based on the
sole testimony of the victim, in such cases which cast a doubt in the mind of the judge, it is not safe to rely on the victim's uncorroborated version.
"Iamconsciousofthelegalpropositionthatthe convictioninsuch casescanbemadeonsoletestimony oftheprosecutrixeven withoutanymedicalcorroborationand theversionofthevictiminrape commands great respect and acceptability but if there are some circumstanceswhichcast doubtinthemindofthecourtoftheveracityof victim's evidencethenitisnotsafetorelyontheuncorroborated versionofthevictimofrape," the judge observed.
According to the prosecution, it was alleged that the woman, who had come from Mumbai for business, had met the accused through a common friend for professional purpose in December 2009.
Later, the accused invited her to Haryana State Guest House and after a few meetings he proposed to her and promised her that he will divorce his wife to marry her, it said.
It said she consented to the proposal and they had physical relations but their affair ended in 2012 when the accused deserted her on the ground that he would not be able to face his daughter if she found about their relationship.
The accused had denied the allegations and claimed he had started avoiding her becauseofherunreasonabledemands and threats.
He statedthatafalsecasewasregisteredagainsthim withoutmaking preliminaryinquiry and she had given a false statement toextortmoneyandto blackmailhim.
