Man freed as woman lodged false rape case at husband's behest

A man, accused of raping and threatening a woman, has been acquitted by a Delhi court after she admitted having lodged a false case at the behest of her husband.
Additional Sessions Judge Virender Bhatt absolved Delhi resident Atul Kumar of the charges under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC after the woman said she had intimate relations with the accused for over one year and her husband had forced her to lodge the false case.
"I find that there is no credible or clinching evidence on record to suggest that accused had committed any offence with which he has been charged. The evidence on record clearly points towards his innocence.

"It is quite manifest that the husband of the woman, on coming to know about the intimate relations between her and Atul, pressured her to file a complaint of rape against accused," the judge said.
The court also observed that the woman's conduct even after lodging FIR against Atul, indicated that she had "fancy and liking for the accused" and he had not subjected her to any kind of sexual assault on any day whatsoever.
It noted that the woman used to talk to Atul several times a day even after registration of FIR in the case.

"The woman has clearly said in cross examination that she mentioned rape and threat in her complaint to the police upon the pressure and at the instance of her husband whereas no such incident had taken place," the court said.

The woman also told the court that the injuries found on her body during her medical examination were due to beatings given to her by her husband, it said.
According to prosecution, the woman had alleged in a complaint that on August 14, 2014, Atul was supervising an under-construction building and when she went there to fetch water from a pump, he raped and threatened her.
The complaint, lodged by the woman's husband on November 4, 2014, also alleged that Atul was blackmailing his wife for nearly two months.
However, in their cross examination, the couple turned hostile saying when the woman's husband came to know about their affair through certain text messages on her mobile phone from the accused, he implicated him.

"It is evident that no incident of rape or attempt to rape or molestation at all had taken place and for this reason, the prosecutrix has given different versions of the incident in her statements," the court said.
Denying the allegations, Atul said he was friends with the woman and when her husband came to know about it, he forced her to lodge a false complaint against him.