Allegedly raped on daughter’s wedding day; HC upholds acquittal saying there is no corroborative evidence

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: The High Court has upheld the acquittal of two men who were accused of raping a woman who had conducted the wedding of her daughter on the same day. The complaint was filed ten days after the alleged incident, as the woman claimed that she did not want to spoil the reputation of the family during the wedding.

The HC however found that there was no corroborative evidence in the case and the acquittal of the two men by the trial court was right. “Unless there is corroborative evidence, this court cannot give credentiality to the evidence of all the witnesses.

In view of discrepancies and inconsistencies in the evidence of the prosecution, the trial court has rendered an acquittal judgment by holding that the prosecution has failed to bring home the guilt of the accused as regards offences under Section 376 and 392 of the IPC beyond all reasonable doubt,” Justice K Somashekar and Justice CM Joshi said in their judgment recently.

The allegation is that the victim was waiting for a bus near the roadside in Yekkur to go to Manjeshwara. The wedding of her daughter was conducted earlier in the day. The accused and another person came on a bike and enquired about her. They offered to drop her and she went with them.

However, they stopped the vehicle near Bagambila, threatened her at knifepoint, and had sexual intercourse with her. They also stole the gold jewellery with her worth Rs.1.6 lakh and cash of Rs 22,000. The incident allegedly happened in March 2008.

The complaint was filed ten days later and after the trial, the VI Additional District and Sessions court in Mangaluru acquitted the accused in December 2015. The police appealed against this acquittal in the High Court. Dismissing the petition, the HC noted, “In the case at hand, though it is alleged that the accused had committed rape on the victim woman and also robbed her gold items inclusive of cash of Rs 22,000 it is seen that there are material contradictions in the evidence of the witnesses which creates reasonable doubt in the mind of the Court as regards the case of the prosecution.”

Upholding the acquittal, the HC said, “It is seen that there are discrepancies and contradictions in the evidence of the prosecution witnesses as well as in the evidence of the defence witnesses. We find that there is no perversity or absurdity or any illegality committed by the Trial Court in rendering an acquittal judgement. Therefore, in this appeal, it does not arise to call for interference as contended by the State/appellant. Consequently, the appeal deserves to be rejected as being devoid of merits.”