Man freed in rape case as wife turns hostile

A man, accused of raping and threatening a woman, has been acquitted by a Delhi court on the ground that she was happily married to him and had lodged a false case under pressure from her parents.
Additional Sessions Judge Virender Bhatt absolved the man, a west Delhi resident, of the offences, saying that the woman turned hostile in the court and also there was no "inculpatory evidence" against the accused.
"It is seen that the woman has deposed totally contrary to the prosecution case. Nothing inculpatory against the accused has come in her testimony. It is evident from her deposition that she voluntarily accompanied the accused and stayed with him willingly.

"Since the woman has not supported the case and there being no other eyewitness to the incident, it was futile to carry on trial of the case any further... Resultantly, accused is liable to be acquitted," the judge said.
According to the prosecution, the woman had lodged a complaint on June 15, 2014 alleging that the accused brought her on the false promise of marrying, but kept her in shanties where he raped her repeatedly for nine days.
He then dumped her at a bus terminal, saying he would come back to pick her up after taking money from his friend, but did not return, the police had said, adding that later he threatened her over telephone that if she disclosed the incident to anyone, she would be killed.

However, she resiled from her statements before the court saying she had voluntarily eloped with him and they were now happily married.
She also deposed that the physical relations between them were consensual and she had lodged a false complaint under pressure from her parents, who were against the relationship.
The accused was facing trial under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.