Allahabad High Court Acquits Man in Rape Case: Shared Burden of Proof
In a recent judgment, the Allahabad High Court acquitted a man accused of rape, highlighting that both the complainant and the accused share the burden of proof in such cases. Justices Rahul Chaturvedi and Nand Prabha Shukla stated that while the law rightly focuses on protecting the dignity and honor of women, it is important to assess each case individually to determine accountability.
The court was reviewing an appeal by the complainant, who challenged the acquittal of the accused in a rape case. The accused had also faced charges under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
In 2019, a woman in Prayagraj filed a police complaint, alleging that the accused had promised to marry her, engaged in a sexual relationship, and later made derogatory remarks about her caste. The accused was formally charged in 2020.
On February 8, 2024, the trial court in Prayagraj acquitted the accused of rape but convicted him under Section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Following this decision, the complainant appealed to the high court.
The accused argued that their relationship was consensual and that he chose not to marry the woman after discovering she did not belong to the ‘Yadav’ caste, as she had claimed. The high court upheld the trial court’s decision, noting that the woman was already married and had not legally ended her previous marriage. Furthermore, she had concealed her caste and maintained a physical relationship with the accused for five years without objection.
The court observed that both parties had stayed together at various hotels in Allahabad and Lucknow, making it difficult to determine who was deceiving whom. The complainant failed to prove her claims about her caste, leading the court to conclude that the trial court’s acquittal of the accused was justified.
The judgment underscores the importance of evaluating each case on its merits and recognizes that the burden of proof in rape cases is shared by both parties involved.
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