An attempt to frame two youth in a gangrape case boomeranged on a 20-year-old woman as a city court not only allowed the accused to walk free but also ordered her prosecution for the offence of perjury.
The court, which said it cannot restore the “lost honour” of the accused, also noted, “It is very regrettable that a trend has set in nowadays where the investigating officers dance to the tunes of the girl complaining of rape, completely throwing to winds their duties and responsibilities.”
“This is a fit case where the prosecutrix (girl) deserves to be proceeded against for committing the offences punishable under Section 193/196 (giving false evidence in a judicial proceeding) of the IPC,” additional sessions judge Virender Bhat said.
The court ordered that copies of its judgment be sent to Delhi police commissioner and others so that efforts can be taken to “sensitise” and “train” police officers to conduct probe in such cases with “an open mind without treating the statement of the girl as gospel truth”.
The police had arrested Preetam Yadav and Manoj Kumar Yadav in November 2011 after the girl had complained that they had raped her. During the trial, advocate Vikas Padora, appearing for Manoj, had said that at the time and date of the alleged incident, the accused was celebrating his daughter’s birthday with his family at a Gurgaon hotel. The court acquitted the accused saying the woman has made a false rape complaint as no such incident took place.
“There is absolutely no truth in the allegations of rape raised by the prosecutrix and she has manipulated a false story of rape for some ulterior motives and she was assisted by somebody else in this whole episode,” it said.
The court acquitted the accused observing that in her cross-examination, the woman admitted that she had physical relations with Preetam earlier.