A 25-year-old man has been acquitted by the special POCSO court after Worli police failed to provide evidence in a kidnap and rape case. The accused, a resident of Worli, was arrested in December 2020 and has spent over one-and-a-half years in jail.

Special judge Priti Kumar Ghule, in her order, said, “The court has made a very harsh observation over the investigation carried out by the police and the credibility of the survivor who changed her statement from time to time. The statements of the complainant [minor’s mother] are brought under doubt as she is not deposing truthfully.”