: A court here acquitted an Assistant Professor of Delhi University in a rape case after the victim turned hostile.
The woman denied the allegations made in her complaint as well as in the statement recorded before a Metropolitan Magistrate that the accused, Dharmendra Kumar Neeraj, had induced her to his room on the pretext of celebrating his birthday and sexually assaulted her there. She said she had lodged a complaint against the accused due to confusion and misunderstanding as he was not picking her phone and delaying to marry her as promised. She stated that they were now “happily married”.
‘Confusion in lodging case’
“She had lodged a complaint against the accused on account of some confusion and misunderstanding as the accused had stopped receiving her phone calls and was taking time to marry her. However, he later resumed relations with her. Now, they are married and living together happily,” the victim said in her evidence in court.
The two had become friends through a common friend in 2014. Thereafter, they started calling each other on phone and meeting. The victim was at that time preparing for civil services.
When the victim refused to support the prosecution case, the counsel for the accused urged the court to close recording of prosecution evidence. The public prosecutor opposed it and wanted to examine other witnesses, but the court refused his submission.
“No incriminating evidence could come on record to proceed further. Accused Dharmendra Kumar Neeraj is acquitted of the charge under Section 376(2)(n) (rape) of the IPC,’’ Additional Sessions Judge Ramesh Kumar-II said.
