New Delhi: A man accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl has been acquitted by a Delhi court after the minor resiled from her statement and said that she made the allegations against him at the instance of an NGO official.
Additional Sessions Judge Renu Bhatnagar acquitted Subhash, a south Delhi resident and the girl`s neighbour, of the charges of sexually assaulting a child under section 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and outraging the modesty of a woman under section 354 of IPC.
"The retracted testimony of a hostile witness is not believable as there is no corroboration to her earlier statement," the court said.
It also noted that the child and her mother, who were star witnesses in the case, had turned hostile because of which rest of the prosecution witnesses could not help prove the guilt of the accused.
The court, while acquitting Subhash, also observed that the girl in her cross examination had said that Subhash had neither teased her nor threatened her.
It also noted that the girl`s mother had deposed that they could not see the accused as it was pitch dark where the incident took place.
According to the prosecution, on the night of May 4, 2013, the girl, along with her mother, had gone to attend nature`s call near their residential camp in south Delhi when Subhash pulled the girl forcibly and took her to a nearby jungle.
The mother of the girl, who was standing at some distance from her, heard her daughter`s scream and rushed to save her but Subhash ran away from the spot, it said.
Next day, Subhash was arrested by the police.
However, the girl and her mother changed their statements in their cross examination and said that both of them could not see who assaulted her daughter as it was dark there.
The girl told the court that she made the statement in the police station at the instance of an NGO official.
