New Delhi: A man has been acquitted of charges of kidnapping and raping a 17-year-old by a Delhi court after the girl said she eloped with him of her own free will and there was no physical relation between them.
Additional Sessions Judge Rajneesh Kumar Gupta absolved the Delhi resident of the charges of kidnapping and rape under the IPC and sexual assault under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
"Prosecution witness 11 (the girl) has not supported the case of the prosecution... She has specifically deposed that no physical relations were established between them.
"In view of the above discussion, the prosecution has failed to prove its case against the accused that he committed penetrative sexual assault with the girl. The accused is accordingly, acquitted of the charge," the judge said.
According to the prosecution, the girl went missing from her home on April 20, 2013 and her father lodged a missing complaint the next day. The girl was found nearly two weeks later in Patna and she told the police that she was in love with the accused and had married him at his house where she had consensual physical relation with him, it said.
The accused was arrested on May 5, 2013 and he was charged by the police for the offences of 363 (abduction), 366 (kidnap with intent to compel a woman to marry) and 376 (rape) of IPC and sexual assault under POCSO Act. The girl, however, during the trial, told the court that there was no physical relation between her and the accused and she was not forced to do anything.
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