Three yrs a ‘rapist’, court sets man free

JUSTICE Man walks free after court finds that his wife’s parents forced her to file abduction, rape complaint for marrying outside caste

In 2014, the life of a 26-year-old man turned upside down after the woman he loved and had married, accused him of abduction and rape.

What followed next was three years of trauma, not only for the man, but also for his poor parents who lived in Govindpuri. The man, as a rape case accused, spent a week in jail, lost his job and spent six months at home, searching for another job. Life as an alleged rapist was extremely difficult for him until a city court acquitted him in the case last week.

The court passed the acquittal order after observing that his wife’s parents had forced her to file the rape complaint against the man because they had objections to her marrying outside their caste.

“The incident changed my life. I missed my exam. I couldn’t go to coaching classes or to my office. Nobody can give me back the time that I lost in the last three years ,” said the man, who worked as an assistant engineer.

A resident of a slum cluster in southeast Delhi, the man recently appeared for his final exam of Bachelor of Arts (BA). “He is one of the few male members in the family who can call themselves educated. But the recent incident has turned him into a reclusive,” his mother told Hindustan Times.

On July 14, a Delhi court acquitted the man of abduction and rape charges. It noted that the man and woman had apprehensions that their parents would not agree for their marriage as they belonged from different castes. So they voluntarily went to Tis Hazari Court and got married. But when the parents of the woman came to know of their marriage, they took her back home and forced her to file a complaint against him.

“Our lives changed completely after that case was registered. I couldn’t believe that my son was charged as being a rapist. He suffered a lot after the false complaint,” said the man’s mother.

In her complaint, the woman has alleged that on July 10, 2014, the man had stopped her when she was going for a job interview. He made her sit in his car and gave her something to drink forcibly due to which she lost consciousness. When she came back to her senses, she found herself in Tis Hazari Court complex. He showed her a paper and told her that they were married .

A case of abduction and rape was registered against the man in Govindpuri police station. The woman further claimed that on August 14, 2014, the man divorced her in the presence of local people. She stated that before giving her a divorce, he established physical relations with her against her will. The man was arrested on October 23, 2015.

During trial, the man had pleaded not guilty . He stated that he met the woman for the first time when she was in a college from where he was doing graduation. They fell in love and later went to Tis Hazari Court, where they got married.

He said in court that on July 18, 2014, the woman came to his house to live with him. But later her mother came, took her away with her and did not send her back. He stated that he never divorced the woman and she is still his wife.

The court noted that the woman knew the man since 2011. According to the woman’s complaint, the man used to follow her and ask her to marry him. This went on for three years. The complaint was made for the first time in 2014. The court observed why the woman or her parents remained silent for three years and did not make any complaint and acquitted him.

The incident changed my life. I missed my exam. I couldn’t go to coaching classes or office. Nobody can give me back the time that I lost.