Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Rakesh Kumar acquitted city resident Sandeep of raping his sister-in-law, married to his brother in 1995, saying the prosecution has failed to secure the woman's presence.
"In the light of circumstances where the prosecution has failed to secure the presence of the complainant (woman) and as the rest of the witnesses are immaterial and inconsequential in her absence, I have no option but to acquit the accused of the charge levelled against him," the judge said.
According to the prosecution, the woman had approached the court seeking registration of an FIR against her in-laws including Sandeep and four others alleging that he had raped her and the other four accused had abetted the crime. The case, however, was registered only against Sandeep.
The woman had alleged that after her husband's death in 1996, her in-laws used to ill-treat her and in October 2007, they sent the accused in her room and he raped her on knife point. She had also alleged that nobody came to her help and the family members threatened to kill her.
During investigation, it came out that the woman used to quarrel with her in-laws to get her re-married to her younger brother-in-law Sandeep and to give her share in the property.
It was also revealed that after the family refused to accept her demands, she filed the case against them.
The court also noted in its judgement that the woman was untraceable and during probe also, she could not be located for getting her DNA test conducted.
