After 3 years jail, two brothers acquitted of rape charges

The lawyer of the brothers, advocate Munira Palanpurewala, said that the mother used her daughter to take revenge on her husband and in-laws

Mumbai: A special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) court on Monday acquitted two brothers of rape charges involving a 14-year-old minor girl. One of them is the girl’s father and the other is her uncle. The two men who were arrested on November 16, 2018, have walked out of the jail after the judgment was pronounced on Monday.

Reviewing the medical evidence, the court said that it was sufficient enough to prove the innocence of the men. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The court acquitted the brothers, observing that the minor girl was under the influence of her mother, whom her father had divorced. The complainant in the case, the mother of the minor girl, had claimed that on November 12, 2018, she along with the girl left the house after she argued with her husband over the allegations that he and his brother had raped the minor multiple times.

The prosecution examined the girl and her mother, along with the medical officer who had examined the child and three other witnesses to prove the allegations levelled against the brothers were false.

The medical officer, a key witness in the sexual assault case, said that the girl could not have been subjected to repeated sexual assaults. Reviewing the medical evidence, the court said that it was sufficient enough to prove the innocence of the men. The lawyer of the brothers, advocate Munira Palanpurewala, said that the mother used her daughter to take revenge on her husband and in-laws.

The court while acquitting the two observed, “In the present case, the oral evidence of the prosecutrix victim itself is not reliable. She is under the influence of her mother who has separated from her husband. The complainant is treating herself as divorced by triple talaq due to which she left the house and according to her, there is no marriage in existence. It is seen that the overall evidence and the background in which the complaint is lodged is sufficient to infer that the accused are not guilty.”