Rape: HC acquits man sentenced to 10 years in jail

Panaji: The Bombay high court on Wednesday acquitted Afzal Khan, who was sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 1 lakh by a fast track POCSO court for raping a girl in 2023 at Arpora.

According to the prosecution, he raped the 18-year-old girl in July 2023 after her female friend (his girlfriend, who later turned hostile) asked her to accompany her for a picnic at a hotel at Arpora.

The survivor stated that after food and drinks, which he ordered, she woke and found that she had been raped in the hotel room.

The court observed that the hotel owner and staff certainly acted in breach of law by providing the room to a minor (the survivor’s friend) without any ID. tnn

The court held that this probabilises the argument of the defence that the hotel management, in an attempt to cover their lapses, may have deposed against Khan.

Hence, the court stated that the statement of the waiter doesn’t inspire confidence.

The court observed that the prosecution harped on the DNA evidence to establish its case beyond reasonable doubt but agreed with advocate Rohan Desai, representing Khan, that the bedsheet was recovered after almost 48 hours and was easily accessible to any person during this time and open to manipulation.

The court held that mere presence of semen on the bedsheet will not be ipso facto conclusive proof of the offence of rape in the facts of the present case, as the bed was shared by Khan earlier.

Justice Ashish Chavan held that the prosecution failed in proving beyond reasonable doubt the rape offence against Khan, and acquitted him.