Man accused of raping friend acquitted

A man accused of raping his friend and cheating her of Rs 1.5 lakh on the pretext of marriage has been acquitted by a fast-track court here which said whatever happened between them was with the woman's consent.
Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna acquitted Delhi resident Sunil Malik of the charges of raping and cheating the 26-year-old girl, who had also become pregnant.
"The girl is a major woman, being 26-years-old, and that the incident being of the year 2011, when she was 24 years of age and she admitted that whatever happened between her and the accused (Malik) was with her consent.

"She even denied making allegations of rape against Malik and submitted that her complaint was drafted by her friend and that she signed it without going through its contents, a doubt is created in the story of the prosecution," the court said, adding that Malik neither raped the woman nor did he cheat her.
According to prosecution, on May 1, last year, the woman had lodged a case with the police alleging that Malik, a contractor, had befriended her and established physical relationship with her on various occasions after making false promise of marriage and also took money from her in the name of making investments.

She had alleged that she even got pregnant but the accused got her pregnancies terminated.
The prosecution had also said that Malik later refused to marry her and instead tied the knot with some other woman. He had also allegedly threatened her with dire consequences.