A man has been acquitted of the charge of raping a woman after intoxicating her by a Delhi court, which refused to rely on her testimony saying she was “not a credible witness” and it could be a “consensual affair”.
Additional sessions judge Virender Bhatt absolved Delhi resident Ajay of the charges of raping the woman after giving her stupefying substance and also let off his cousin Santosh, who was accused of blackmailing and extorting money from her.
While acquitting both the accused, the court found discrepancies in the testimony of the woman, who worked in a nursing home here and alleged that she was made to consume sedative-laced drink by her colleague Ajay, who then raped her at Santosh’s residence.
While noting that the woman had concealed the incident of alleged rape from her husband, the court said, “She should have informed her husband about the rape incident as well as the illegal demands of money or should have reported the matter to police.”
“She did not tell her husband that she has gone to the house to attend the birthday party. It appears that she had very close relations with Ajay.
It also said that the woman, who went with Ajay to his cousin’s residence, could not prove that he was her colleague and hence “she had no reason to believe his representations”.
It also rejected her claim that Santosh blackmailed her that he would disclose the incident to her husband and had extorted money to remain quiet on the issue.
“When the incident of rape itself has been found to be doubtful and unbelievable, the allegations of blackmailing against accused Santosh too became doubtful…There is no evidence to suggest that accused Santosh had issued any threat to her not to report the matter to police,” it said.
According to prosecution, in December 2012, Ajay had invited the woman to his nephew’s birthday party and she went with him without informing her husband where she consumed sedative-laced drink after which she was allegedly raped by him.
Both the accused had denied allegations and claimed they were falsely implicated.
