A man facing trial for allegedly raping his colleague for nearly two years after promising to marry her has been acquitted by a Delhi court which said the woman's testimony was unbelievable.
The court acquitted Mukesh, a resident of Karawal Nagar in North East Delhi, saying that physical relations between him and the woman, if any, appeared to be "consensual".
"It appears upon the analysis of the evidence on record that the woman was aware of the marital status of the accused since the beginning and physical relations, if any, established between them appeared to be consensual," Additional Sessions Judge Kaveri Baweja said
.
"The testimony of the woman cannot be believed, it being unworthy of reliance.I find that the allegations made by the woman cannot be said to be true. The accused must be acquitted of the charges on which he has been facing trial. He be released forthwith," the judge said while acquitting Mukesh of the charges of rape and criminal intimidation,
The 27-year-old woman had told the court that she worked as a manager at a shop in Sita Ram Bazaar where she developed friendship with her colleague Mukesh in 2011.
She further submitted that Mukesh established physical relations with her on the pretext of marrying her and hid the fact that he was already married.
When she quit her job in 2012, Mukesh continued to rape her by forcing her to meet him and threatened to kill her if she disclosed anything, the complainant alleged.
She further alleged that a year later the man told her that he was already married and was "using" her.
Rejecting the submissions of the woman, the court said, "The claim of the prosecutrix that she came to know about his marital status much later is false".
It accepted the submission of Mukesh that he had mentioned at the time of his interview for the job at the shop that he was married and the woman was also present there.
The court also relied on the recording of a mobile phone conversation, submitted by the defence, between the woman and Mukesh's brother wherein she had demanded Rs one lakh from him for settling the case.
During the trial, Mukesh had pleaded innocence and denied having any physical relation with the woman saying that she had falsely implicated him with the motive of extorting money from him.