Thane, Jul 4 A court in Maharashtra's Thane district has acquitted a 30-year-old Bhopal resident, accused of repeatedly raping a woman on the pretext of marriage, citing a complete lack of evidence as the victim remained untraceable during the trial.
In its order passed on Thursday, Additional Sessions Judge-4 Premal S Vithalani cleared Amandip Singh alias Gannu Pintu Lamba, of all charges, including rape and cheating.
According to the prosecution's case, the 32-year-old victim had created a profile on a matrimonial website in March 2020, where she came in touch with Lamba.
Gradually, he established physical relations with the woman by gaining her trust and promising to marry her. However, he later returned to Bhopal, snapped ties with her and refused to marry her. After that, the woman lodged a complaint, on the basis of which an FIR was filed at the Navghar police station in Thane.
During the trial, the prosecution examined only two witnesses. Despite multiple summonses, the complainant could not be located to depose before the court, forcing the prosecution to close its evidence.
While noting that the medical certificates, including a potency certificate of the accused, were admitted as evidence during the trial, the judge pointed out that such medical proof is legally insufficient to establish guilt in the absence of the victim's primary testimony.
Highlighting the absolute lack of foundational testimony to substantiate the allegations, the court said, "As the informant is not traceable, there is absolutely no evidence to show that accused, by cheating the informant and by giving false promise of marriage, repeatedly committed rape on her."
"For want of evidence, the findings are recorded in the negative," it said, and ordered the acquittal of the accused.
