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Accused let off in colleague's rape case

NEW DELHI: A court here has come to the rescue of a man charged with rape of a colleague ten years ago by lying about his marriage, as it acquitted him after holding that the woman knew his marital status and consented to the relationship.

``No deception or inducement on the part of Ashok Kumar (accused) could be proved by the prosecution and it appears that the complainant was a consenting party when she cohabited with him,'' said Additional Sessions Judge Sanjay Sharma.

Mr. Sharma said the witnesses' testimonies proved that the couple had a love affair but the fact of Kumar making a misrepresentation about his marriage when he cohabited with the complainant had remained ``uncorroborated''. Dismissing the prosecution plea that Kumar had also married the complainant in a temple at Laxmi Nagar here, the court observed that the priest of the temple had refuted the claim that he had performed the rituals.

According to the prosecution, Kumar had in February 1997 married the woman by saying he was a bachelor. They allegedly rented a house in Noida after the wedding, where a child was born to the couple.

The woman's mother and brother admitted in court that they knew about the relationship but expressed their ignorance about the alleged marriage between them.

The court said the prosecution also failed to establish the paternity of the child born out of the relationship and the landlord of the house in Noida turned hostile. The defence had alleged Kumar was falsely implicated in the case as he refused to marry his colleague after divorcing his wife. - PTI

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