Court sets aside conviction of a man in molestation case

A man, who was sentenced to one year in jail by a trial court for molesting a girl, has been freed by a sessions court here which said that "contradictions" in testimonies of witnesses had put in doubt the genuineness of allegations against him.
"Truth has been hidden behind dark clouds," the court observed while saying the complainant and the investigating officer were silent regarding the manner in which the accused was arrested.
Additional Sessions Judge Manu Rai Sethi set aside the conviction and jail term of Jahangirpuri resident Anil Kumar saying there were major contradictions in the girls testimony which create doubt about the genuineness of allegations.

"Perusal of evidence recorded in this case reveals that contradictions in testimonies of prosecution witnesses are not minor in nature.
"In fact the contradictions are so major as to go to root of the matter and put in doubt genuineness of allegations made by the complainant and also genuineness of prosecution story," the court said.
The sessions court allowed Anil's appeal against the magisterial court's last year order which had held him guilty of the offence of molestation under section 354 of IPC and had sentenced him to one year in jail.

The court, while setting Anil free, said the injuries reflected in medical report of the girl did not support her story as propounded in the FIR or even during course of her testimony in court.

"She is blissfully silent about the manner in which she had received multiple abrasions on both her arms and her neck. This apparently implies that the complainant is hiding more than she is willing to disclose to the Court...Benefit thereof has to be extended to accused (present appellant)," it said.
In his appeal against his conviction and sentence, Anil contended that he was falsely implicated by the girl who had alleged that on March 16, 2010 when she was going home after taking tuitions, he had outraged her modesty by touching her inappropriately near a school in north-west Delhi's Jahangirpuri area.

Challenging the magisterial court's October 2014 order, he also said that there was no independent witness and there were contradictions in statements of the girl and her parents.
The trial court had convicted the accused while relying on the testimonies of the girl and other prosecution witnesses saying minor discrepancies would not wash out the entire case.