Pune Session Court Clears Photographer in Rape Case, Cites Lack of Evidence of Forced Act by Luring Marriage

Pune:

The complainant was aware that she could not marry the accused as she was already married, making it unreasonable to claim rape on the pretext of marriage. Citing no evidence of force or coercion in incidents at the complainant’s residence or the accused’s house, Additional Sessions Judge S.R. Salunkhe ordered to exclude the photographer from the rape case.

The name of the young man who has been excluded from the rape case has been identified as Rohit (age 21). In this case, a 26-year-old woman had filed a complaint at the Bhosari police station.

As per the information, the plaintiff woman is married and has a six-year-old son. In December 2021, the woman went to a photo shop to take a photo. There she met Rohit. After that, they started talking to each other. However, later the woman filed a complaint at the police station against Rohit, saying that he had raped her on the pretext of marriage. Further, the plaintiff also stated that Rohit had tortured her several times at her and his house.

However, Advocate Vibhishan Gadade had filed an application on behalf of the young man in the court and demanded to exclude him from the case. In this application, Gadade argued that the complaint against Rohit was false, fabricated, and completely baseless. Further, WhatsApp chat between Rohit and the plaintiff revealed that both were in love with each other.

Advocate Gadade argued that prima facie there was no evidence that the young man had kept sexual relations with the plaintiff by luring her into marriage. On this, based on the evidence filed and by the Supreme Court’s example, the Pune Session Court stated that there is no evidence to conclude that the accused raped the young woman with the lure of marriage; therefore, it would be futile to prosecute the accused. Further, the court ordered that the accused will be excluded from this case in the future, and the young man was acquitted from this case.

On this judgement, Advocate Vibhishan Gadade, the lawyer who was representing the young man’s side in this case, said, “Considering the increasing incidences of rape against women, the police take immediate action in such cases. However, the number of false complaints of rape is also increasing due to misuse of the law. After a love relationship breaks down, false complaints are filed against men. Due to this, the men have to go to court and jail. To get out of such false complaints, one has to appeal to the high courts and supreme court, and it is not financially viable. In such a situation, the landmark verdict of the Pune District Sessions Court to exclude the young man in the rape case is being considered bold and rare. This will help to curb false complaints of rape to some extent.”