Forty years after a person was accused of kidnapping and raping a minor woman, a classes court docket in Mumbai cleared him of all expenses after it was discovered that the person, who’s now 70, and the alleged sufferer had eloped, married, and had 4 kids collectively.
In keeping with court docket data, the complainant, who lived in the identical space because the accused, had filed a criticism in 1984 alleging that her daughter had disappeared after telling her she was going to the toilet.
The accused was subsequently declared absconding in 1986, and a non-bailable warrant was issued in opposition to him. He was situated and introduced earlier than the court docket in Could this yr, with proceedings starting on August 2.
The case was prioritised on account of its age and the accused’s incarceration.
With many witnesses both deceased or untraceable, solely two witnesses had been out there to testify. One was a cousin of the alleged sufferer, who testified that the sufferer and the accused had eloped, married, and lived collectively in Agra, Uttar Pradesh.
The cousin additionally revealed that the complainant, who had filed the FIR, was uneducated and had not signed the criticism. The couple had 4 kids, two of whom had died. Each the complainant and the sufferer, now the accused’s spouse, had handed away.
A retired head constable, who had been on responsibility at D B Marg police station on the time, additionally testified. The court docket famous the shortage of documentary proof to verify the sufferer’s minor standing on the time of the alleged incident.
Given the age of the case and the absence of considerable proof, the court docket dominated that there was no proof the accused had kidnapped or raped the sufferer.
The court docket dismissed the costs and ordered the person’s launch from jail.
“Because the matter is simply too previous, most witnesses of the prosecution are both not traceable or expired. The matter is simply too previous. The accused is in custody. Subsequently, prime precedence is given to eliminate the matter. There is no such thing as a iota of proof to point out that he kidnapped her and dedicated forcible sexual activity together with her,” the court docket mentioned, clearing the person of all expenses and ordering his launch from jail.
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