Mumbai:
Six students arrested for allegedly raping a 23-year-old American student of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) last year were acquitted by a court in Mumbai on Wednesday due to lack of evidence.
The students - in their early 20s - are in jail for the last 16 months.
The court said the victim's evidence didn't inspire confidence and therefore she wasn't wholly reliable. One of the main reasons - the six accused were given the benefit of doubt and acquitted.
In April 2009, the TISS student had accused them of spiking her drink and raping her right through a night. But the in-camera trial in a fast track court fell apart much to the embarrassment of the Mumbai police.
"The court found no evidence against the accused. The reports don't match her statements," Defence lawyer Rohini Salian said.
The list of loopholes is long:
- The medical report does not confirm rape
- The DNA report is negative
- The complainant had told the doctor she was raped by three men whose names she did not know. But in the police FIR she accused 6 men and named them. In her FIR she said: "I might have been raped"
- Finally, she claimed she fell unconscious after 1 pm but phone records show she was texting and calling all night
The victim had come from the US to Mumbai to testify, but her return to appeal in the High Court seems unlikely.