Thane court acquits 30-year-old in rape and cheating case

A court in Maharashtrarsquos Thane district has acquitted a 30yearold man accused of rape and cheating along with his mother and brother who were charged with castebased abuse citing a lack of evidence by the prosecution news agency PTI reportedThe order passed on September 24 by Additional Sessions Judge AS Bhagwat designated as a special judge under the Scheduled Castes SC and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act was made public on TuesdayThe accused along with his two family members had been facing charges in connection with a 2022 case The court ruled that the prosecution failed to substantiate the allegations against the trio leading to their acquittal on all counts PTI reportedThe case was registered under sections 376 2 rape 420 cheating 504 intentional insult and 506 criminal intimidation of the Indian Penal Code IPC at the Mumbra Police Station in Thane based on a complaint filed by a 19yearold woman from an SC communityThe complainant alleged that the man who belonged to the Maratha community made physical relations with her between September 2019 and 2021 on the promise of marriage However he later refused to marry her stating his family was not ready for his marriage with her as she was from a low caste PTI reportedShe also alleged that during their meeting the other two accused publicly insulted her parents using casteist slurs The court however said the prosecutions evidence was insufficient to sustain any of the serious charges against the trioThane court acquits businessman accused of abusing tribal man cites faulty probeIn another incident a Thane court has acquitted a businessman accused of abusing a tribal man in 2018 citing insufficient corroboration of the prosecutions evidence reported news agency PTIAdditional Sessions Judge AS Bhagwat in the judgment passed on September 26 observed that the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubtA copy of the order was made available on TuesdayJayesh Ramesh Bhoir 39 a businessman from Thane city in Maharashtra was accused of abusing and threatening Raju Budhya Tumbada a member of the Warli tribal community during a dispute over land ownership here on January 28 2018 reported PTITumbada who is the complainant in the case alleged that Bhoir attempted to encroach on his agricultural land by erecting cement poles with the help of a labourerWhen the complainant and his wife resisted Bhoir allegedly hurled caste abuses according to the FIR lodged at Kasarvadvali Police Station under provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act reported PTIThe prosecution examined nine witnesses including the complainant his wife two panchas eyewitnesses and investigation officers Several documentary exhibits such as caste certificates civil suit plaints and panchnamas were also placed on recordJudge Bhagwat after reviewing the evidence pointed to several deficiencies and contradictions in the prosecutions caseThe prosecution witness had lodged the complaint two days after the alleged incident The delay of two days is not explained in the FIR or any other document Hence as per the settled legal position the FIR is to be viewed suspiciously the Thane court said reported PTIThe prosecution witness had admitted inimical relations with the accused over land dispute from prior to the date of the incident Witness has also admitted that several litigations are pending over the said land dispute in the civil court Therefore there is a clearcut possibility of false implication of the accused by witness it noted reported PTIThere is no convincing corroboration of the evidence of the prosecution witness the court saidThe independent eyewitnesses have not supported the prosecutions case at all and have turned hostile it saidThe investigation of the case is faulty and not as per provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act it added while acquitting the accusedWith inputs from PTI