A man has been acquitted of the charge of trying to kill his sister's husband after the alleged victim and his wife turned hostile, by a Delhi court saying as they all were closely related to each other, the possibility of witnesses being won over by the accused could not be ruled out.
"Witness 6 (alleged victim's wife), 7 (alleged victim) and accused are closely related. In these circumstances the possibility of victim and his wife being won over by accused cannot be ruled out," Additional Sessions Judge Dinesh Bhatt said, while absolving Sanjay, a Delhi resident, of the offence of attempt to murder under section 307 of IPC.
The court also noted that the alleged victim had failed to identify the accused and that his wife was "only a hearsay witness".
"There is thus, no evidence to link the accused with the offence in question," it said.
According to the prosecution, a complaint was lodged by alleged victim Sonu's wife saying that on April 20, 2014, her husband returned home with stab injuries on his abdomen and disclosed he was attacked by his brother-in-law.
The complainant, who had married Sonu against her family's wishes, took him to a hospital where his statement was recorded and the accused was arrested.
However, during deposition in court, the husband and wife denied the allegations levelled against Sanjay, saying some unidentified persons had attacked Sonu when he went out with the accused after consuming liquor.
Sonu resiled from his statement given to the police that a quarrel took place between him and the accused and they both had injured each other using a kitchen knife, the court noted.
During the trial, the accused, too, had pleaded innocence and claimed he was hit by unknown persons at night.
