Thane court acquits 49-year-old in rape case, questions 10 years gap to file complaint

THANE: A 49-year-old man accused of repeatedly raping a woman over eight years under the pretext of marriage and cheating her of Rs 5 lakh was acquitted by Additional Sessions Judge D.S.

Deshmukh. The court observed that the prosecution failed to establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt.The accused, a resident of Solapur who was staying at CBD Belapur, faced charges under sections rape cheating and threatening and the case, registered at Kapurbawadi police station in March 2022, involved allegations spanning from July 2012 to March 2020.The complainant, a widow with two children whose husband died in 2007, alleged that she met the accused at her sister’s daughter’s engagement ceremony in July 2012.

According to the FIR, the accused contacted her the next day, met her at Pune railway station, and took her to a lodge where he allegedly raped her after promising marriage and financial support for her children.The woman claimed the accused convinced her to shift to Thane in 2014, promising to help with her children’s education. She alleged he continued to exploit her sexually while extracting money over the years - Rs 60,000 for his wife’s sarpanch election campaign, Rs 1.5 lakh for purchasing a flat at Kamothe by making her mortgage her gold necklace, and Rs 1.4 lakh for his personal needs.

The relationship reportedly soured when the accused began avoiding her calls and eventually blocked her number. When she confronted him at his Belapur residence in February 2022, she alleged that he and his family members abused and pushed her out, prompting her to file the complaint.However, Judge Deshmukh found the prosecution’s case fundamentally flawed. The court noted that the woman was a mature adult who voluntarily maintained physical relations with the accused for nearly a decade without raising any objection or informing anyone about the alleged exploitation.The court particularly questioned why the woman waited 10 years to report the alleged crimes if they were indeed against her will. The judge noted that the woman’s testimony suggested they were in a consensual live-in relationship rather than a case of repeated rape.Regarding the cheating charges, the court found no documentary evidence to support the woman’s claims of financial transactions. The prosecution’s case was further weakened by examining only one witness - the complainant herself. Her credibility was significantly undermined during cross-examination when she admitted that she did not oppose going to the lodge room.Following his acquittal, the accused was directed to furnish a fresh personal recognizance bond of Rs 15,000 with one surety for six months.