The Bombay high court recently acquitted a man who was convicted of raping his 12-year-old daughter, holding that the victim was instigated to level the serious charge by her mother, who was at loggerheads with her husband.

Justice KU Chandiwal, while acquitting Shaikh Sheru Turab, 32, observed: “It is a shocking event that a teen has been used as a lever against her father.”

The court directed the authorities to forthwith release Turab, who has so far spent over three years in prison after he was arrested on January 20, 2010.

As per the case put forward by the prosecution, the accused used to stay with his wife Ruksanabi and three children, a daughter and two sons.

Two months prior to the offence being registered, the accused had allegedly raped his daughter and on January 19, 2010, had attempted to rape her again. The victim, however, resisted his advances and informed her mother about it, who then took the victim to the police station and lodged a first information report (FIR) against the accused.

The police arrested the accused and charged him under sections 376 (1), 506 and 511 of the Indian Penal Code. During the trial, the prosecution examined six witnesses, and the accused denied the charge. He claimed that since his wife and him were not on good terms, she was using their daughter as a stooge.

The trial court, partially accepting the prosecution’s case, held Turab guilty of the offence. Turab appealed against his conviction in the high court. The court, after going through the evidence, concluded that the daughter’s testimony could not be held to be correct.

The HC said: “Her keeping silent for two months after the so-called rape is suggestive of falsehood. Her evidence, coupled with the evidence of the mother and defence witness, appears to be a catalogue of events in chronological form to a hypothesis of false implication of appellant for no event of sexual abuse.”

The court thus set aside the conviction and directed that the accused be released.

@plumbermushi