Prayagraj: The Allahabad high court has upheld acquittal of four men in connection with an alleged rape case of 2009 as it concurred with the view of the trial court that the survivor appeared to be a consenting party. A division bench, comprising Justice Rajiv Gupta and Justice Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra, in the judgment dated Sep 13 noted that the court found no good ground to grant leave to appeal in the instant case, which accordingly was refused. Consequently, the govt appeal challenging the acquittal was dismissed at the stage of admission itself.
As per the facts of the case, on April 22, 2009, complainant Munna Lal filed a complaint at a police station in Kanpur Dehat alleging that his minor daughter was abducted on April 7, 2009, by accused Balwan Singh and Akhilesh. Following a search by the police, the girl was finally recovered on May 3, 2009, along with the accused, Balwan Singh, near a railway station. Accused Balwan was taken into custody and the victim was sent for a medical examination.
The medical examination revealed no injuries. Also, she came out to be over 18 years old based on radiological assessment. The charges were framed against accused Balwan Singh, Akhilesh, Siya Ram and Vimal Chandra Tiwari under sections 376 (rape) and 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing a woman to compel her marriage) of IPC.
In its judgment acquitting the accused, the trial court found, based on the evidence adduced before it, that the victim, a major, had left her home wil.
