Rape charges cleared for lack of evidence

A man, who along with his two friends, was accused of gang-raping a girl after kidnapping her in the Capital in 2007, has been acquitted by a Delhi court which said there were “considerable discrepancies” in her statements.

A man, who along with his two friends, was accused of gang-raping a girl after kidnapping her in the Capital in 2007, has been acquitted by a Delhi court which said there were “considerable discrepancies” in her statements.

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The court acquitted Delhi resident Amit, who was initially declared a proclaimed offender in May 2008 and was arrested in April last year, observing that the prosecution has failed to prove that he had kidnapped and raped the girl. Amit’s friend Keshav and Gabbar, who were also accused in the gang rape case, were earlier arrested but were acquitted by the court in March 2010 because of a lack of evidence.

While acquitting Amit, additional sessions judge Illa Rawat said there were various discrepancies in the statements of the girl regarding the manner in which she was allegedly abducted and raped by the accused.

“There are considerable discrepancies brought out from the cross-examination of prosecutrix (girl) recorded on January 28, 2008 (during the trial of Keshav and Gabbar) and May 14, 2013 respectively (during Amit’s trial), regarding the manner in which prosecutrix claims she was abducted by accused Keshav and ultimately taken to a park where she was raped by the three accused,” the judge said.

According to the police, the girl was on her way to her uncle’s house on June 17, 2007, when auto driver Keshav picked her up for a ride. Keshav took her to a park where Gabbar and Amit also raped her, the police said.