Man acquitted in sexual assault case

A man has been acquitted of kidnapping and sexual assault charges by a Delhi court after the alleged seven-year-old victim and her mother turned hostile.
Additional Sessions Judge Sanjay Garg absolved the man, a south-west Delhi resident, of the offence of sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and assaulting with intention to disrobe under section 354(B) of the IPC.
"Since the material witnesses have not supported the case of the prosecution, it would have been a futile exercise to examine the remaining prosecution witnesses, who were formal in nature," the judge said.
According to the complaint lodged by the mother of the girl, her daughter was playing outside their house on February 27 when the man, on the pretext of giving her food, took her to a crematorium nearby where he disrobed her and sexually harassed her.

However, she managed to escape and narrate the entire incident to her mother, who then approached the police, it said.
The court had on July 21 framed the charges against the accused to which he pleaded not guilty and asked for a trial. However, during the trial, the child and her mother denied the incident and said that the FIR was registered due to some misunderstanding.
The court did not record the statement of the accused under section 313 of the CrPC as there was no incriminating evidence against him.