Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Virender Bhat discharged Dr Nand Kishore, presently an assistant project director at Chaudhary Brahm Prakash Ayurvedic Charak Sansthan in West Delhi, from the offence of raping the 25-year-old woman.
The court discharged the doctor saying the victim cannot depose in the case as she had committed suicide two months after reporting the matter to the police.
"Infirmities could have been cured by the unimpeachable testimony of the prosecutrix in court. But as she is no more, even if the case is put to trial, the victim cannot be brought to testify as she has already left for the heavenly abode. She would have been the star witness for the prosecution.
"Her evidence was the substantive piece of evidence and that alone carried weight. Other documentary as well as oral evidence, which would be lead by the prosecution, would only be of corroborative nature," ASJ Bhat said.
"What seems to be more intriguing is that victim did not subject herself to the medical examination (after complaining of the incident)," the court noted.
The widow had in March 2011 accused the doctor of raping her. The widow, having a five-year-old son was employed as a class IV employee in the hospital for past seven months.
"After 15 to 20 days of getting the said job, the accused called her to his office and asked her about the death of her husband, her family and also made comments about her beauty," the woman had stated in her complaint.
