Court acquits man accused of raping minor girl in Thane after victim turns hostile

Thane: A court in Maharashtra's Thane district has acquitted a 33-year-old man accused of kidnapping and raping a teenage girl here in 2013, giving him the benefit of the doubt after the victim and her father turned hostile.

Special POCSO court judge V V Virkar, in the order, passed on February 3, said the prosecution has failed to prove the charges against the accused. A copy of the order was made available on Monday.

The man, a resident of Brahmananda Nagar in the Bhiwandi area of Thane, was charged under Indian Penal Code Sections 363 (kidnapping), 366­A (procuration of minor girl) and 376(3) (rape on a woman under 16 years of age) and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The offence was allegedly committed on the girl, then aged around 16, between February 14 and September 1, 2013.

"Though, as rightly argued on behalf of the prosecution, merely because the prosecutrix and her father turned hostile, the accused cannot be exonerated and it is required to be seen what is the other evidence on record," the judge said in her order.

But, so far as the contents of the complaint are concerned, the testimony of the prosecutrix and her father, who is the complainant is material and important and as mentioned above, "both have turned hostile and have not proven the contents of the complaint," she said.

The testimony of the investigation officer also would not be of any help to the prosecution to establish the allegations against the accused, the court noted.

There is absolutely no evidence to prove that the accused kidnapped the prosecutrix from the lawful guardianship of her parents and committed rape and penetrative sexual assault on her. Therefore, none of the allegations can be held to have been proved against the accused, the court said.