‘Testimony central to Pocso trial’: Gurgaon court acquits man of rape

Gurgaon: A man, who was accused of raping a minor girl and blackmailing her, was on Thursday acquitted by a city court, which observed that the testimony of the survivor was the "most crucial element in a Pocso case", and her complete denial of the allegations left the prosecution with "no substantive evidence".The man, who allegedly took the objectionable pictures of the girl and shared the same with her parents, was acquitted as the survivor and her parents turned hostile and police were not able to produce any medical or other evidence to support the case.
Additional sessions judge Sanjay Sharma held that the prosecution "failed to establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt", adding that criminal law mandates the "benefit of doubt must go to the accused". At the time of the incident, the survivor was less than 18 years old. The complaint was filed in June 2021. The accused was arrested in the same month, within days of registration of the FIR and remained in jail for several months before getting bail.The judge held that the case collapsed entirely once the survivor retracted her allegations during trial. The court pointed out that police failed to produce any evidence linking the accused to the allegations of rape or non-consensual photography. The court noted that no medical report supported the claim of sexual assault, no device or photographs were recovered and no other witness or material connected the accused to the alleged acts.The case was registered after the girl initially alleged that the accused raped her and clicked her photographs without consent. Based on her complaint, charges under the POCSO Act were framed and the matter proceeded to trial before the special court. However, during her testimony, the prosecutrix turned hostile, denied the allegations and said that no sexual act was committed by the accused.Counsel for the accused Manish Shandilya argued that his client was falsely implicated and that the prosecution's case had no legal footing once the star witness withdrew her allegations.During the trial, the parents of the victim recorded their statement, saying their daughter reported the incident to the police. The accused never committed any sexual wrong with their daughter, nor did he click photographs without the consent of their daughter. The survivor retracted her statement given to the police. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Valentine's day wishes, messages and gift idea !