A Delhi court has jailed a man for seven years for repeatedly raping his sister-in-law, rejecting his contention that the woman had falsely implicated him due to some money dispute.
The court awarded rigorous imprisonment to 47-year-old Anil Kaushik, a north east Delhi resident, saying that the woman had not disclosed about her rape earlier due to social stigma but later on gathered strength and came out with the truth.
"I am of the opinion that testimony of the woman cannot be disbelieved on this ground. If the woman was to make allegation on account of money transaction, there was no reason for return of amount to the accused through his brother after the date of alleged incident," Additional Sessions Judge Sarita Birbal said, noting that the woman's family had taken some loan from the man and was also repaying it timely.
According to the prosecution, the woman and the accused, who were relatives, were residing in the same building with their respective families.
The man used to rape her whenever he found the woman, a mother of five kids, alone in her house and also threatened to kill her family members if she disclosed it to anyone, it said.
It said the man raped her twice in August 2012 and she informed police about her injuries and was taken to hospital. She then disclosed about the man's act to her mother-in-law who informed the police and a case was lodged against Kaushik.
During the trial, Kaushik denied the prosecution case and claimed that the woman's family had borrowed Rs seven lakh from him in 2011 and as he demanded the money back, they falsely implicated him in this case.
The court, however, rejected his submission saying there was no dispute between the two families and the woman's family was paying back the loan even after the incident.
It also noted that the injuries on the woman's private parts showed that she was raped.
"Rape is an offence which cause stigma to the reputation of the victim for life thus a victim may not disclose true facts at the first incident," the court said.
"Considering the totality of facts and circumstances of the case, convict (Kaushik) is sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for seven years and fine of Rs 4,000 for the offence punishable under section 376 of the IPC," it said.
He was also convicted for the offences of criminal intimidation by threat to cause death and causing simple injuries.
Kaushik sought leniency in sentence saying he belonged to a poor family and was the sole bread earner.
