A court in Maharashtra’s Thane district acquitted three including a woman, accused of raping and extorting money from a 40-year-old woman on multiple occasions.
Amit M Shete, an additional sessions judge, acquitted the accused of charges under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code.
Sanjay B More, an additional public prosecutor, informed the court that the victim, a widow, lived in Kashimira with her children, and that the accused were also from her neighborhood.
According to the prosecution, the crime occurred between 2010 and 2014, when one of the alleged accused provided financial assistance to the victim and even offered to marry her. He later raped her several times.
The victim then approached the accused, who promised to assist her and demanded Rs 30,000, which the victim obtained by pawning her jewelry, they claimed.
The victim also claimed that she was raped repeatedly by another man who was present during her meeting with the accused, according to the prosecution.
After reviewing the evidence, the court expressed doubts that the victim, who had been sexually assaulted for a long time, had shown no resistance.
It went on to say that the relationship, if it exists, appears to be by consent.
The court also questioned the victim’s decision to accept financial assistance from one of the accused when she could have raised Rs 30,000 by pawning her gold jewelry.
The prosecution’s version, or rather the allegations, are nothing more than a fabricated or fictitious story of the victim, according to the judge, who added that there was no evidence on record to support the charges leveled against the accused.
