Court finds woman’s account ‘unreliable’, acquits Marathi film producer in rape case

The woman alleged he took her to a resort in Mira Road, where he gave her a script to read and later raped her. The survivor lodged a complaint on January 14, 2013 and the producer was arrested on January 18, 2013.

A special women’s court recently acquitted a Marathi film producer of charges of rape on the grounds that the conduct of the survivor, an aspiring actor, seemed “questionable” and her testimony “unreliable and untrustworthy”.

The woman had alleged the film produer took her to a resort, where he gave her a script to read and later raped her. (PTI File / Representative Photo)

According to the complaint, an artist coordinator introduced the woman to the producer on January 12, 2013, who then invited her for dinner with his other friends.

Around 1am after the dinner, he offered to drop her in his car and discuss the role with her on the way.

The woman alleged he took her to a resort in Mira Road, where he gave her a script to read and later raped her. The survivor lodged a complaint on January 14, 2013 and the producer was arrested on January 18, 2013.

The prosecution examined nine witnesses, of which two were the rape victim and the producer’s driver.

The remaining were the ones involved in the investigation, seizure of evidence and medical evidence.

The court doubted her conduct before and after the incident, questioning why the woman, a law graduate, registered a complaint a day after the incident.

“She has deposed that she was in shock for a day. She later narrated the incident to two people and called police on 103 at night. Being an advocate, she did not have to consult anybody,” the judge said.

The driver, in his deposition, claimed the woman went to the resort on her own. “The contention of the woman that she accompanied the accused at midnight only to read the script does not appear to be reasonable, especially when it was her first meeting with the accused and she was not pre-acquainted with him. She has not deposed about any pressing financial needs that suggested that she required the signing amount urgently from the accused in the said night for any purpose.”