A Delhi court has acquitted a man of the charge of allegedly raping a woman several times on the pretext of marrying her as the victim said in her evidence during the case trial that she had physical relations with the accused of her own accord.
The woman had also alleged in her complaint to the police that she had got pregnant during her relationship with the accused and the latter had allegedly pressurised her to abort when she was six months pregnant. The woman had repeated the allegations in her statement before a Metropolitan Magistrate (MM). But in her evidence before the court, the woman deposed that she had lodged the complaint on the wrong advice of her well wishers and friends.
“Due to wrong advice and at the instance of her well wishers and friends, she had gone to Uttam Nagar police station and made a complaint against the accused. She was produced before the MM for her statement who recorded her statement under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code. She has voluntarily stated that she had made this statement at the instance of her well wishers, on their wrong advice,” the court said quoting excerpts from the woman’s evidence in the trial of the case.
According to the woman, she had met alleged accused Dimple Panchal alias Ashu at Madipur village in South-West Delhi where she was at that time staying with her parents. Gradually, they became friend and she had physical relationship with him with her free will.
Acquitting the accused, Additional Sessions Judge Nivedita Anil Sharma said: “Consequently, accused Mr. Dimple Panchal is hereby acquitted of the charge for the offence under Sections 376 (rape), 420 (cheating), 313 (causing miscarriage without woman’s consent) and 511 (attempting to commit offences with imprisonment for life) of the IPC.”
