A Delhi court acquitted a man of sexual harassment charges, highlighting the critical importance of consistent and credible testimony in sexual harassment cases and raising questions about the reliability of the complainant's account.
Key Points
- A Delhi court acquitted a man accused of sexual harassment due to inconsistencies in the complainant's testimony.
- The court found the complainant's different versions of events at various stages of the investigation lacked credibility.
- The accused was acquitted of charges under Sections 354, 506, and 509 of the Indian Penal Code.
- The complainant's initial statement conflicted with her later testimony before the magistrate, raising doubts about the identity of the accused.
- The prosecution failed to establish its case beyond a reasonable doubt due to the lack of credible witness testimony.
A Delhi court has acquitted a man charged with sexual harassing and criminally intimidating his neighbour, holding that the complainant's testimony suffered from multiple inconsistencies.
In her recent ruling, Judicial Magistrate Anamika also ruled that the testimony failed to inspire confidence.
"The complainant has given different versions of the allegations at different stages of the investigation and trial. The testimony of the complainant therefore lacks credibility and cannot be considered sufficient to prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt," the court said in its March 20 judgment.
The accused was acquitted of all charges under Sections 354 (assault or usage of criminal force with the intent to outrage a woman's modesty), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 509 (acts intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code (IPC).
"It is clear there are multiple inconsistencies in the deposition of the complainant witness. There is no other public witness to the alleged incident, the identity of the accused himself is shrouded with doubt as the complainant herself named different people in her separate statements as the perpetrators of the offense," the court said.
According to the prosecution, the complainant was subjected to escalating instances of sexual harassment, including lecherous songs and sexually explicit comments, by the accused and his associates since she moved into her new apartment in July 2021. Things came to a head in September that year when her scooty was vandalised. She also alleged that she was groped.
Advocate Prashant Diwan appeared for the accused.
Inconsistencies in Testimony
The complainant initially stated in her complaint that she was groped by a Baljeet on the stairway, but in her statement before the magistrate, she stated she did not know the names of her neighbours involved in the harassment. She also put forward a completely different version of the incident before the magistrate.
The complainant was confronted about the contradictions in her deposition before the court and recorded statements during the investigation.
"There are multiple contradictions, discrepancies, and improvements between the statements given by the complainant at the stage of investigation and trial," the judge said.
She also alleged in her cross-examination that she went to the police three days after the PCR call, but a police witness deposed that she filed her complaint on the same day as the PCR call.
The judge held that the prosecution failed to establish its case beyond reasonable doubt due to the lack of credibility of their star witness testimony, acquitting the accused of all charges.
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