BENGALURU: A 24-year-old carpenter, who is accused of raping a five-year old girl in an under-construction building in the city, has been acquitted after the victim’s parents - major prosecution witnesses — turned hostile.
The victim too did not identify the accused when he was produced before the court during trial.
Special Court Judge G B Mudigoudar said in his judgment, “From the analysis of the prosecution’s testimony — both the documentary and oral evidence — absolutely no evidence is on record to connect the accused with the alleged crime.
Therefore, we have no other option but to acquit the accused. We hold that the prosecution utterly and miserably failed to establish guilt against the accused beyond all reasonable doubt. Hence the accused is acquitted,” Judge Mudigoudar observed.
According to the judgment dated February 11, 2016, the accused Muniraju (24), a native of Thirugaluru village of Malur taluk in Kolar was working as a carpenter at an under-construction building on Kalkere Main Road in Ramamurthynagar police station limits.
The father of the victim, who works as a helper in the same building, was living in a shed with his wife and three children. The victim is the eldest child.
The father of the victim was the second prosecution witness. He had stated in the complaint that the accused had persuaded his daughter and taken her upstair and assaulted her sexually against her will. “Being the father of the victim, he is highly interested in prosecuting the accused and seeing that he is convicted.
However, he did not stick to his complaint for reasons best known to him. On this ground, we have discarded his testimony as not helpful to prove the prosecution case. Not only the father, even the mother, who is the third witness, has turned out hostile for reasons best known to her,” the judge said.
“The fourth prosecution witness is the victim. The police not only recorded her statement but also recorded Section 164 of CrPC statement with the permission of the court. But she also turned out hostile, not sticking to her statements. She failed to identify the accused in the open court when the accused was produced. The evidence of the victim is also discarded by this court as not helpful to prove the prosecution’s case. The parents and the daughter do not have a conflict of interest between them,” the judge said
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