Maharashtra: Court acquits man accused of raping teenage girl

A court in Maharashtras Palghar district has acquitted a 27yearold man accused of raping a teenage girl while giving him the benefit of doubtSpecial POCSO court judge Dr M S Deshpande in the October 7 order which was made available on Saturday said the prosecution failed to prove the charges against the accused a labourer from Dahanu taluka hereThe prosecutor told the court that both the accused and the victim were neighbours During a festival in 2017 the victim had gone to a pandal The accused then took her to a secluded place where he allegedly raped herAccording to the prosecution the man raped her on multiple occasions till April 2018 following which she became pregnantWhen her mother came to know about the pregnancy she filed a police complaint against the man who was later booked on rape charges and under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences POCSO ActThe judge in the order observed that the victims testimony showed the accused was her neighbour and they had a love affair According to her she was aged about 18 years old at the time of the incident The prosecution has not examined any witness in order to bring on record the victims true age and date of birth Therefore the birth certificate copy filed along with the charge shysheet is not proved by the prosecution the court saidAlso Read Bihar Girls create ruckus when asked to remove Hijab for checking during examThe court also said the victim did not support the prosecutions case about her age date of birth and the rapesexualassault committed by the accused on herThe victims mother during her crossexamination admitted that her daughter and the accused were residing together and they had a son According to the victims mother they have no grievance against the accused The case was filed at the instance of an anganwadi worker the court notedAlso there is no evidence that the accused raped or sexually assaulted the victim or threatened to kill her the court saidConsidering the aforesaid facts and circumstances it appears the prosecution has failed to prove the age of the victim at the relevant time It appears that the victim had attained the age of maturity and entered into a consensual sexual relationship with the accused and they were residing together as husband and wife the judge saidIn the backdrop the accused will be entitled for the benefit of doubt and acquittal of the charges of commission of the allegedoffences the court saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever