Rajgarh (Madhya Pradesh): A sessions court in Rajgarh district has acquitted former ward councillor Shafiq Ansari in a rape case after the court found that the woman made the allegations because her home was demolished based on his complaint. Following the rape complaint, the local authorities had also demolished Ansari’s home.
Chitrendra Singh Solanki, First Additional Sessions Judge at Rajgarh district, observed that there are significant inconsistencies in the testimonies of the woman and her husband.
“The victim’s presence at the accused Shafiq Ansari’s house at the relevant time is itself doubtful. The claim of the accused establishing sexual relations with the victim is not corroborated by medical or scientific evidence. The victim has not provided any satisfactory reason for the delay in informing her husband about the incident or for the delay in filing the report,” the court said in its judgement dated February 14. The prosecution had claimed that on February 4, 2021, Ansari called the woman to his house on the pretext of offering help for her son’s wedding and raped her.
His son and his brother were booked on charges of harbouring Ansari. Before the rape allegations, municipal authorities had demolished the woman’s house over encroachment. Her neighbours had also complained against her, alleging that illegal trade of narcotic substances was “being conducted in that house.” The court held that Ansari was a ward councillor, and the “municipality demolished her (the woman’s) house at the behest of Ansari and the residents of the locality.”
