A Delhi court has acquitted four men almost eight years after they were accused of sexually assaulting a woman.
Additional Sessions Judge Rajinder Singh expressed doubts about the prosecution’s case and stressed the need to give the benefit of the doubt to the accused.
The charges against the accused included one individual being charged under Section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), while the others faced charges under section 376D (gang rape).
The prosecution alleged that the woman, employed as a domestic help, was raped twice by the accused and his accomplices after leaving her employer’s house to meet someone on January 25, 2016.
The court considered the statement of the prosecutrix, noting her presence with the culprits until 7 a.m on January 26, 2016. However, it raised concerns about the unclear whereabouts of the prosecutrix between the evening of January 26 and January 31.
Due to this ambiguity and the delay in reporting the matter, the court found the prosecution’s case doubtful.
The judge noted that the prosecutrix failed to identify all the accused in court, and there was a lack of forensic or medical evidence connecting them to the alleged incident of rape. Consequently, the court concluded that the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, leading to the acquittal of the accused persons.
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