NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has ordered the filing of a perjury complaint against a woman who falsely accused a man of rape, stating that her fabricated claims had unjustly subjected the accused to a traumatic legal ordeal.
“It takes a lifetime to build a reputation but only a few lies to destroy the same,” the court stated. The ruling came from Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Anuj Agarwal at Tis Hazari Court, who acquitted the accused man after concluding that the prosecutrix had concocted a false story of sexual assault and threats.
The judge declared that the testimony given by the woman lacked credibility, rendering it unreliable for conviction.
The woman, a resident of Ujjain, had claimed that in November 2019 she was invited to Delhi by the accused on the pretext of sightseeing and was subsequently raped in a hotel located in the Nabi Kareem area. However, upon a thorough examination of the evidence, the court found significant inconsistencies in her account.
In the judgement dated April 4, ASJ Agarwal said, “While it is trite law that a prosecutrix’s testimony, if trustworthy and credible, requires no independent corroboration, the facts of the present case clearly demonstrate otherwise.”
The judge noted that the woman’s deposition in court was not only false but carefully crafted to deceive.
“There may be instances where even the accused becomes the real sufferer, standing before the court with folded hands, seeking justice for them,” ASJ Agarwal said.
Emphasising the psychological toll suffered by the accused, the court said, “An acquittal could not recompense the agony of the accused who underwent the trauma of a trial.”