AHMEDABAD: A city sessions court on Saturday acquitted a person in a rape case. The accused had been admitting from the beginning to having a relationship with the woman, and was also asserting that it was with mutual consent.Himmat Manilal (50) was tried on charges of raping his friend, Nanaran Budha ’s 32-year-old wife. Additional sessions judge acquitted him after it was established that Himmat had a love affair with the woman, and a false complaint was filed against him.As per case details, residents of Hathijan - Naran and Himmat were arrested in a murder case in 2007. Himmat was released on bail first. Narat requested his friend to help his wife to expedite legal proceedings so that he also is released from jail. While pursuing her husband’s bail proceedings, the woman became close to Himmat and they had an illicit relationship.Their relationship continued even after the husband came out of jail. On August 14, 2007, they were caught red-handed by Naran, who forced his wife to lodge a complaint against Himmat for rape. On the other hand, Naran also demanded Rs 50,000 from Himmat for not reporting the case to the police.People in the neighbourhood also got to know about the incident, and some of them also intervened and tried to persuade Himmat to give the amount to his friend. Finally a week later, the woman lodged FIR at the behest of her husband. After arrest, when Himmat was taken to hospital for medical examination, he narrated the entire story to the doctor and later during interrogation, he maintained that it was not a forced relationship, but was one of mutual consent.During the hearing, Himmat’s counsel S M Vora examined two witnesses - a guesthouse keeper from Chotila, where he had gone with the complainant. The other witness was president of the colony these people were residing in, who told the court that he had also intervened in the case when Naran was demanding money in lieu of lodging an FIR. On the other hand, the prosecution examined eight witnesses including the woman, who stuck to her statement that she was raped. The prosecution, however, had to drop many witnesses, as they did not support the police theory.