New Delhi: A Delhi court has rapped a man for having an extra-marital affair, saying he should take the jail term undergone during the rigorous trial in a rape case as a lesson for his “sinful and mischievous deeds”. The court, however, absolved him of the charge of rape levelled by a 24-year-old woman, whom he allegedly deceitfully married by concealing his marital status, saying the relation between them was consensual.
“Though the accused is not guilty of the offences, yet his conduct has not been clean and above board. He has deceived and cheated his wife as well as his children by having extra-marital liaison with the prosecutrix. He has betrayed the trust and faith of his wife,” Additional Sessions Judge Virender Bhatt said.
The judge further said, “The accused must take the period of imprisonment suffered by him in this case and the rigorous of trial he has faced as atonement for his sinful and mischievous deeds.”
The court, however, asked the man’s first wife to accept him “back into matrimonial fold so that they stay as marital partners happily”. Noting that the complainant had turned hostile, it said that from her examination-in-chief “it is crystal clear” that she had willingly gone to meet the accused and voluntarily accompanied him to a temple “where she solemnised marriage with him on her own will and wish”.
The judge said the complainant nowhere stated in her examination-in-chief that the accused had committed forcible sexual relations with her, and from her testimony “it appeared that physical relations between them were consensual”.
