Man acquitted of molestation charge as woman turns hostile

A Delhi court has acquitted a man of the charge of molesting a woman after she took a U-turn saying she did not lodge any complaint and claimed that the police made her sign blank papers.
Metropolitan Magistrate Monika Saroha absolved the man, a resident of south Delhi, of the offence of molestation under Section 354 of the IPC as the woman denied the incident in the court.
"The complainant totally turned hostile and did not support the prosecution story at all. She only stated in the witness box that on the day of the incident nothing has happened with her. She even denied having made her statement to the police," the court said.

The woman claimed in the court that she was illiterate and was forced by police to sign blank papers.
"Even if the routine investigation documents like FIR, arrest memo, personal search are deemed to be correct and duly prepared, they are insufficient to prove the guilt of the accused. Accordingly, the accused is acquitted of the offence under Section 354 (molestation) of IPC," it said.
According to the prosecution, the woman had lodged a complaint that on March 5, 2013, the man used criminal force on her to outrage her modesty outside a Delhi Jal Board office near Okhla here.

She, however, turned hostile in court and denied making any such complaint.
"The complainant has not mentioned even a single act of the accused by which her modesty was outraged. She has not uttered even a single word in support of the alleged complaint to the police," the court said.
During the trial, the man had denied the allegations levelled against him and claimed that he was falsely implicated in the case.