‘Inconsistent testimony’: 53-year-old man from Maharashtra acquitted in 2023 Pocso rape case

Thane: A Thane court has acquitted a 53-year-old man of charges of raping a minor girl, ruling the prosecution's evidence was not "cogent and clinching" and questioning the minor girl's claim of recording the act on her phone. Special Judge Premal S Vithalani, in the order on April 9, also highlighted contradictions in the girl's testimony. The prosecution alleged that between Dec 2022 and Jan 2023, the man, a tailor by profession and neighbour of the 17-year-old girl in Thane city, sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions after obtaining her house keys from her mother. The victim claimed she had secretly filmed one such incident on Jan 14, 2023. The girl's mother worked as a cook in the locality. The mother would lock the house from outside and leave the keys with the tailor till she returned. The court said, "It is highly improbable that the culprit committing rape would allow the minor girl to video shoot the act on the mobile phone." The judge also highlighted the contradictions between the victim's court testimony and her earlier statement to a magistrate. While she told the court that the first incident happened at the man's house during a tailoring visit, the girl's prior statement claimed he entered her house to commit the crime.