A youth accused of threatening and raping a girl, who had to undergo an abortion, has been acquitted by a Delhi court on the ground that she was "obliging the boy willingly" and "without any threat or force".
Freeing Delhi resident Rajesh Kumar, Additional Sessions Judge Virender Bhat, heading one of the fast-track courts set up to try cases of sexual offence against women, held that the girl "was a willing party to all these sexual encounters" with the accused.
"The conduct of the prosecutrix during this whole affair which continued for a period of two to three years and ended up with a trip with the accused (Kumar) to Rudrapur in Uttarakhand clearly manifests that she was having intimate relations with Kumar and she was also enjoying sex with him voluntarily.
"The photographs...Also shows that such kind of intimate kissing and hugging is not done if the girl is under the threat or pressure," the judge noted.
According to the case of prosecution, the girl went missing from her home on the intervening night of November 30-31, 2010 following which her father lodged a case. Police recovered the girl from the bus stand here six days later.
The prosecution said she was taken to a hospital for a medical examination, where she was found to be pregnant.
Later, when she was produced before the magistrate, she had told the court that she was being raped by Kumar from last two to three years and that he also used to threaten her that he would eliminate his family if she discloses it.
She had sought court's permission for termination of pregnancy, which was allowed by the court.
The counsel for Kumar, however, had claimed that he was innocent and was only having friendship with the girl.
The counsel had also told the court that the girl was a consenting party to the sexual intercourse with Kumar and she fled with Kumar on her own volition to Rudrapur.
"An assessment of the testimony of the girl, reveals that it does not inspire any confidence and is neither credible nor reliable. The circumstances in which the girl claims to have been subjected to sexual intercourse forcibly by Kumar seem to be highly improbable."
While acquitting Kumar, the judge also noted that the girl at no point "apprised" any one about the alleged rape she was subjected to.
