Court acquits Indian Air force officer of rape charges, noting love relationship of woman with accused

NEW DELHI: Delhi’s Patiala House Court recently acquitted an officer of the Indian Air Force of rape charges. The court noted that the relationship between the accused and the prosecutrix was one of love, but the marriage could not be decided. An FIR was registered at the Vasant Kunj Police Station in the year 2018.

Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Pawan Kumar honourably acquitted the accused Pramod Kumar giving him benefits of doubt as the allegations of rape could not be proved on record by the prosecution.

“It is the case of a love relationship between two adults, who agreed to marry each other and, consequently, both families met to discuss the prospect of marriage. The families could not agree upon the marriage, and this FIR was lodged out of vengeance. The alleged incident of rape could not be established on record,” the court said in the judgement of March 7.

It was the case of prosecution that the accused and the woman had met on a matrimonial site and agreed to marry.

It was alleged that on February 16, 2018, the accused persuaded the woman to accompany him to a hotel room, where he allegedly established a physical relationship with her after allegedly giving her a spiked drink.

Later on, their families did not agree on the marriage, and the accused also refused to marry her.

The judge noted that there were “candid and intimate chat” between them, which contradicted allegations of rape on the night of Feb 16-17, 2018.

The court observed, “It is highly improbable that someone would engage in such a chat after an alleged rape. In the hotel room, they enjoyed music.

The prosecutrix took selfies of private intimate moments and even attempted to peek into the washroom while the accused was using it. Even after the alleged incident, she clicked selfies in the car.”

The judge also noted that the woman’s testimony was full of contradictions and inconsistencies. Her statements were inconsistent throughout the investigation and trial, it was further noted.

“The testimony of the prosecutrix is far from being of sterling quality. Given the surrounding facts and circumstances, it would be highly unsafe to convict the accused based solely on the uncorroborated testimony of the prosecutrix,” the court held. (ANI)