Hyderabad: The Supreme Court on Thursday, July 17, acquitted a man sentenced to rigorous imprisonment after a false case of kidnapping in Hyderabad.
The incident occurred in August 2012 when the man eloped with his friend’s sister. The couple stayed together at Shadnagar for two months. The couple eloped on August 4, and the girl’s mother filed a missing complaint on August 8.
The accused faced police investigation for 13 years before being convicted of rape by a trial court, and was sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment. The Telangana High Court reduced the sentence two years.
Upon hearing the matter, a bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Mehta acquitted the accused of all charges. The Supreme Court questioned as to why the girl’s mother waited for four days to file a missing complaint.
The apex court further raised doubts on the police investigation into the matter. On October 12, the accused met with an accident and was hospitalised, and the girl stayed with him for two days before returning to her family.
According to reports, the police registered a case of rape based on the girl’s complaint. The bench observed that the girl’s deposition doesn’t reflect that the man forcibly removed her from her parents’ guardianship. “She admitted to voluntarily accompanying him on a bike on August 4, 2012,” the court observed.
