HYDERABAD: A POCSO court in Rajendranagar, Rangareddy district, recently acquitted a man, Sampangi Vijay Kumar, of rape and abetment of a minor girl’s suicide, despite DNA evidence confirming he was the biological father of her foetus. The case collapsed after the victim’s family turned hostile during the trial.
Special Judge T Srinivas of the Rangareddy district court at Rajendranagar delivered the judgment, noting that the prosecution’s case had been critically weakened after key witnesses failed to support it.
Refused marriage, pregnant girl ends life
According to the prosecution, Vijay and the victim were residents of Shamshabad. He allegedly lured her with a promise of marriage and had sexual intercourse with her on several occasions. When the victim became pregnant in February 2020, Vijay married another woman.
The victim was seven months pregnant when she and her family approached him requesting marriage, but he refused. She later died by suicide after jumping into Himayatsagar lake.
Following the postmortem, the foetus and other body samples were preserved for DNA analysis. Based on the victim’s mother’s statement, police altered the case from Section 174 of the CrPC to Sections 305, 376(2)(n), 417 and 420 of the IPC, along with Section 5(l) read with Section 6 of the POCSO Act. The victim’s SSC marks memo showed she was 17 years and 11 months old.
Victim’s family turns hostile during trial
The Forensic Science Laboratory confirmed through DNA analysis that Vijay was the biological father of the foetus. However, during the trial, the victim’s mother, sister, uncle and brother turned hostile, denying Vijay’s involvement. His wife also turned hostile.
Investigating officer K Ashok Chakravarthy told the court he had filed the chargesheet after completing the investigation. During cross-examination, he admitted that the victim’s date of birth certificate was not collected, though attested copies of the SSC marks memo and bonafide certificate were collected but not exhibited during the trial, the judgment noted.
“The prosecution’s case is critically weakened as key witnesses turned hostile. While DNA profiling links the accused to the foetus, material contradictions regarding the body’s discovery, lack of a certified date of birth for POCSO, and the failure of family testimony to support abetment charges make acquittal likely,” the judgment observed.
The court noted that the prosecution failed to establish charges beyond a reasonable doubt. With the victim’s family not supporting the prosecution’s version, the judge acquitted Vijay of all charges.