Complainant assumed accused was getting married

A Delhi court on Monday acquitted a man in a sexual assault case after the victim declared during the hearing that she had lodged the case against him after mistakenly assuming that the man had gone to his village to get married.

She clarified in court that when she made inquiries with the family of the accused they told her he had gone to attend his brother’s wedding, not his.

On his return from the village, the accused married her and they are now staying together as a legally wedded couple, the victim further stated in her evidence.

In her complaint lodged with the Kapashera police in South-West Delhi in September, the victim alleged that the accused had sex with her several times on the pretext that he would marry her. She told the court she had been staying with the accused at a rented accommodation since 2012. According to her complaint, the accused had one day suddenly told her that he was leaving for his village to get married. She got angry and went to the police to lodge a case.

She also alleged that the kin of the accused had threatened to kill her when she contacted them. She had reiterated her allegations when a Metropolitan Magistrate recorded her statement. However, now she has attributed the case to a miscommunication between her and the accused. She gave the same alibi about her statement before the Magistrate.

“It is seen that the prosecutrix has deposed totally contrary to the prosecution case. As per her version, she and the accused were having a love affair and they were staying together and having consensual physical relations with each other,” the court said.

The public prosecutor conceded there was no evidence against the accused. “Resultantly, the accused is hereby acquitted,” Additional Sessions Judge Virender Bhat said.

Complainant thought accused was getting married, but discovered later that he had gone to attend his brother’s wedding