Exaggerated Claims: POCSO Court Acquits Man Accused Of Raping Minor

Mumbai: A special POCSO court recently acquitted a 31-year-old man booked for raping a 17-year-old girl, noting that the teen's version of the incidents was “exaggerated”. The girl had claimed that the accused had physical relations with her on the pretext of marriage.

In her statement, she alleged that on May 04, 2020, he took her to a lodge where he committed sexual intercourse and repeated the act several times thereafter. In September 2020, the teen's mother lodged a missing complaint after the girl went 'missing'. However, it was later found that she had gone to the house of her grandparents in Lucknow.

According to the prosecution's story, when the girl met her mother again, she was in an intoxicated condition. The teen finally narrated her ordeal and revealed how the accused had raped her several times when she was under the influence of narcotics, the prosecution added. The mother then lodged a rape complaint with the Dongri police on October 2.

Defence lawyer Munira Palanpurwala contended that the woman was into drug dealing and the girl had met the accused through her. The teen was already addicted to narcotics and was also sent for rehabilitation, the lawyer claimed. The special court also found the girl's testimony “exaggerated and unreliable” as it was not consistent.

“The victim has made allegations against the accused and even his wife, which are not found in the police statement,” the court observed. The judge further said that it is an admitted position that during the period when the alleged offence was committed, there was lockdown, public movement was restricted and hotels or lodges were closed."

Hence, the girl's story that the accused indulged in sex with her at lodge is not backed by evidence, the judge added.

“Even there are no forensics reports to show that the relations were kept forcibly or by administering the stupefying substance. There is inconsistency in the evidence of the victim and it does not inspire confidence,” the court observed.

POINTERS:

HL : Court reasons…

No forensics reports to show that girl was intoxicated at time of rape

She claims act was committed at lodge, but there was lockdown at the time

Inconsistency in the victim's evidence does not inspire confidence

Some of her allegations are not found in police statement