A
Division Bench of the Bombay High Court comprising of justices SS Shinde and AIS Cheema recently upheld the acquittal of a 38-year old man, Anwar Shami
Sheikh, who had been charged with raping his 8-year-old daughter multiple times
in 2012.
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| Bombay High Court |
The court which dismissed the appeal filed by the State against the trial
Court's order of acquittal, observed that there was no perversity in the
findings of the trial court.
Sheikh
was staying with his wife and three children, including the victim, in their
house in Sangamner taluka in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. His wife had
alleged that on February 14, 2012, she woke up hearing the victim shouting
loudly, and saw Sheikh raping her. A quarrel ensued and Sheikh left the house.
Two and-a-half months later, the complaint was registered.
The
prosecution examined around nine witnesses including the complainant and the
victim. They deposed that the accused had repeatedly raped the victim and also
threatened her with dire consequences if she disclosed it. It was also
disclosed that Sheikh would pay the victim Rs 10 after each time he raped the
victim.
The
defence however, denied the charges and claimed that Sheikh’s wife had falsely
implicated him in the case as he had not paid her maintenance amount though she
was staying with him.
The
Bombay High Court, considering all the evidence on record, noted that as there
was delay in filing the complaint, it disbelieved the versions of the
complainant and the victim. It said: "Record
shows that on an earlier occasion she had not only approached courts in a
maintenance case, but also sought Sheikh's prosecution under section 498-A of
IPC. Thus, in spite of knowing the system, she delayed filing a complaint in
this case."
Further,
there was no medical evidence of rape in the case, and hence the High Court
agreed with the trial court and upheld Sheikh's acquittal.
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