india

Updated: Sep 09, 2015 12:58 IST

A Delhi court has acquitted a man accused of rape and said that it may not be possible to restore his dignity and honour or compensate him for the “humiliation, misery, distress and monetary loss”.

Besides acquitting the man, the court also said he could file for damages against the complainant, a married woman who had retracted her charge during the course of hearing.

The court’s documents were made available on Tuesday.

It is the second such case within a fortnight when the additional sessions judge Nivedita Anil Sharma has made the observations.

“It cannot be ignored that the accused, due to this case which has ultimately ended in his acquittal, has also remained in custody for a considerable period and may have suffered humiliation, trauma, distress and misery besides the expenses of the litigation,” the judge said in her order on Monday.

The woman had alleged that on November 1 last year, the accused had entered her house, raped her at knife point and threatened to kill her son if she disclosed the incident to anyone.

However, during cross-examination, she deposed that she had lodged a false case under pressure from her husband as he had a monetary dispute with the accused.

The accused had pleaded innocence and claimed that he was falsely implicated by the woman.

The court also observed that his plight may continue even after his acquittal as “his implication may have caused uproar in society but his acquittal may not even be noticed.... He will continue to suffer the stigma of being a rape case accused.”

Last month, the judge had acquitted a Delhi resident of rape charges after the complainant withdrew her charge and said that she was not raped by him and physical relations between them were consensual.