Court acquits Haryana BJP MLA, two others in rape case

A BJP MLA from Haryana and another man have been acquitted of the charges of raping a woman in a hotel in Faridabad in 2015 by a Delhi court.

The court absolved BJP legislator Umesh Aggarwal and Sandeep Luthra for alleged offences under sections 328 (causing hurt by means of poison), 376 (rape), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code, saying that the prosecution has not been able to prove its case against them beyond reasonable doubt.

It was noted that the woman turned hostile and there was nothing incriminating against the accused. The court also dispensed with the recording of the statements of the accused.

The court also acquitted one Rekha Suri, a friend of the woman who had taken her to a hotel in Faridabad, for alleged abetment to rape and trying to hurt her by giving her poison. The three accused were out on bail.

While pronouncing the judgment, the court observed that the alleged victim had told the court: “Suri had not administered any intoxicated substance in her cold drink or that Aggarwal and Luthra did not rape her.”

She had also told the court that the two men had not threatened or stopped her from disclosing the incident to anyone.

Police said that the woman had alleged that on January 3, 2015, at the insistence of her friend, Suri, both of them had gone to a hotel in Faridabad, where the woman was given an intoxicated cold drink and later raped.

The prosecution had stated that Suri had abetted the commission of offences against the alleged victim.

The court had framed charges against the three accused who had pleaded not guilty. They three had claimed that they had been falsely implicated in the case.