A Delhi court on Wednesday acquitted a man who was accused of rape, stating that the offense cannot be made out since the complainant was married to him when he forcibly established physical relations with her.
The bench headed by Additional Sessions Judge Umed Singh Grewal ascertained that the woman accused the man of allegedly raping her on 5 July 2016, which could not be considered a case of rape as she was the ‘wife of the accused on that day.’
The bench while acquitting the accused charged of rape stated that “It becomes clear that the victim had married the accused on or before 2 November 2015. However, as per her own cross-examination, she was raped by the accused after 5 July 2016, which implies that she was the wife of the accused on that day.”
As per sources, the complainant was living with the accused in Punjab when she came to know that he was convicted and jailed for committing theft. Aggrieved with this, the woman then moved to Delhi without informing him. However, the accused later followed her to Delhi and convinced her that he will mend his ways.
The couple then started living together.
Subsequently, the accused then stole Rs 2 lakhs from her after which she refused to live with him. Following this, the woman alleged that although the man was arrested on her complaint, he kept visiting her house and established a physical relationship with her, repeatedly.
However, the court observed that the physical relationship between them was with her consent and that it was only after the theft of Rs 2 lakh that the accused had established physical relations with her forcibly.
“When the accused established physical relation with the victim forcibly, she was his wife and hence, rape case is not made out,” the court stated and acquitted the man of rape charges.
