A local court acquitted a Khanna resident in a rape case and reprimanded the police for shoddy investigation.
The copy of the detailed order is awaited.
Abhishek Kumar had spent at least 14 months in jail for the crime he did not commit.
Kumar said that he was a sanitary worker in the Khanna municipal council, but he lost his job due to the FIR lodged against him in the rape case in 2019.
The City 2 Khanna police had lodged an FIR against him in 2019 under section 376 of IPC and under protection of children from sexual offences (POCSO) act and arrested him the same year. He came out on bail in 2020 after serving 14 months in jail.
Suresh Kumar, defence counsel, said that the complainant in the FIR had claimed that Kumar had raped her after taking her to his home when she was returning home from her school in 2019. She also mentioned another date alleging that the accused had tried to outrage her modesty again when she coming back from school.
“The date the complainant had mentioned was Sunday and the other date she had mentioned was the ‘Holi’ festival. On both days, the school was closed and there were no extra classes either. The representatives from the school had confirmed the same before the court,” the counsel said.
{{/usCountry}}“The date the complainant had mentioned was Sunday and the other date she had mentioned was the ‘Holi’ festival. On both days, the school was closed and there were no extra classes either. The representatives from the school had confirmed the same before the court,” the counsel said.
{{/usCountry}}“There were some more points which exposed the police investigation. The court has acquitted Abhishek,” he said, adding that the court also reprimanded the police for ‘shoddy’ investigation.
Abhishek said that he has faith in the judiciary and the court brought him justice.
Due to the poor financial condition of the house, he had borrowed money on interest to pursue the case.
Abhishek said that the society had treated him as an accused for at least five years. As he has been acquitted, he can now live with honour.