A Delhi court has rejected the complaint of a rape victim and set the accused free, saying “there are material improvements and inconsistency in her testimony”.
“I am conscious of the legal proposition that the conviction in such cases can be made on the sole testimony of the prosecutrix even without any medical corroboration, and the version of the victim in rape commands great respect and acceptability. But if there are some circumstances which cast doubts in the mind of the court of the veracity of the victim’s evidence then it is not safe to rely on the uncorroborated version of the victim,” Additional Sessions Judge Sanjiv Jain said to justify the rejection of the victim’s statement.
The victim, sister-in-law of accused Mohammed Jamal, alleged that he had raped her at her house in Govinduri in South Delhi in 2012 when she rejected her overtures to marry him.
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She further alleged that the accused’s wife and her mother-in-law had helped him in sexually assaulting her. They together had gagged and tied her legs and hands to facilitate the crime. They wanted to grab her property following the death of her husband which was registered in her name, she alleged.
But the court disbelieved the victim’s statement as her MLC showed no injuries or abrasions. She explained the delay in lodging FIR in the matter saying that she was not allowed to go out but the court was informed that she had visited court and the police station in connection with the property dispute and a complaint after the incident.