Maharashtra Court Acquits 2 Men In Case Of Woman's Rape And Forced Abortion

A court in Maharashtra's Thane district has acquitted two persons accused in a case of rape of a woman and forcing her for an abortion, while giving them the benefit of doubt.

Thane Sessions Judge Dr Rachna R Tehra, in the order pronounced on January 16, said the prosecution failed to prove the charges against the accused persons beyond reasonable doubt, hence they need to be acquitted.

A copy of the order was made available on Saturday.

The prosecution told the court that one of the accused, aged 47, befriended the victim in 2009 and raped her on several occasions in Bhiwandi and Kalyan towns under the pretext of marrying her.

The accused later got married, but still maintained sexual relations with the victim, as a result of which she became pregnant.

The accused then asked the victim to abort the foetus. When she refused, he took her to a doctor under some pretext where she was forced to undergo the abortion, the prosecution told the court.

A 62-year-old man had assisted the main accused in getting the woman's abortion done, the court was told.

The defence counsel contested the case and denied all the charges levied on the accused persons.

The judge in her order said the prosecutrix and her mother have not supported the case of the prosecution. Therefore, it is not just and proper to keep the matter lingering.

"There is nothing on record to show the accused made a false promise only to satisfy his lust," the court said.

Further, there is no evidence that both the accused threatened the prosecutrix with dire consequence and that the accused in furtherance of their common intention with an accused doctor (who later died) caused the miscarriage of the prosecutrix without her consent, it said.

Therefore, the above details show the prosecution failed to bring the accused on the web of the charged offences, the court said.

The doctor accused in the case died during the pendency of the trial, and hence the case against him was abated. 

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)