Court pulls up police, acquits 2 of kidnapping, rape charges

Two persons, including a woman, have been acquitted of the charges of raping and kidnapping a girl here in 2010 by a court here which pulled up Delhi Police for "gaping holes" in its case and also bringing "intensely doubtful" evidence before it.
Additional Session Judge (ASJ) Virendra Bhatt acquitted Raj Kumar and his sister in-law Suman in the case and observed that the prosecution has to stand on its own legs to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt against the accused.
"The overall scrutiny of the evidence led by prosecutrix (victim) reveals that there are gaping holes in the prosecution case. The testimony of the prosecution appears to be intensely doubtful and far from being credible or trustworthy. It does not inspire any confidence at all," the court said.

"The prosecution has to stand on its own legs and to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt, which it has failed to do in this case," the judge said.
The judge also refused to accept the contentions of police that both the accused have taken different lines of defence during the trial which indicates that they were the culprits and were fabricating stories to mislead the court.
"It is true that the defence set up during cross-examination of prosecution witnesses is different (then) what was stated by the accused in his statement (earlier). It is a trite law that prosecution cannot take any advantage from the weak or inconsistent alibies taken by the accused," the court said.

According to the police, an FIR was lodged at Dwarka North police station here by the victim's father who alleged that his minor daughter was enticed away by his former tenants Raj Kumar and Suman.
After registration of the FIR, the girl was recovered from Kumar's house in Mainpuri district in Uttar Pradesh, police alleged, adding Kumar had married the girl forcibly and raped her with the aid of Suman.
During the trial, both the accused denied the allegations levelled against them and said that they were implicated in the case.