3 weeks ago
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A sessions tribunal successful Maharashtra's Thane territory has acquitted a 33-year-old antheral accused of rape and cheating, holding that a semipermanent intersexual narration based connected a committedness of matrimony cannot beryllium construed arsenic rape if it was consensual close from the start.
Additional sessions justice Ruby U. Malvankar cleared the accused, Shahbaz Mohammad Salim Khan, a nonmigratory of Mumbra, of each charges of rape and cheating nether the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
A transcript of the bid dated May 2 was made disposable connected Sunday (May 11, 2026).
The prosecution alleged that Khan had befriended the survivor, a divorcee with 2 daughters, portion they were moving astatine a promenade successful Thane. He established intersexual relations with her betwixt 2016 and 2018 with the committedness of marriage, but aboriginal reneged connected the committedness and threatened her.
While acquitting the accused, the tribunal highlighted the consensual quality of the narration and the deficiency of grounds regarding fraudulent intent.
"A narration spanning 2 years is simply a important period, and passim this time, she ne'er lodged a ailment nor indicated that she felt cheated. This suggests she was an adjacent subordinate successful the intersexual relationship," the tribunal stated.
It further noted that determination is thing connected grounds to show that the accused harboured a mala fide volition to cheat oregon exploit the complainant from the inception of the relationship.
The tribunal besides observed that the survivor's grounds regarding transgression intimidation and intentional insult was "absolutely vague" and lacked "certainty and conviction".
The tribunal held that the prosecution failed to beryllium the charges beyond a tenable doubt, and ordered the contiguous discharge of the accused's bail bonds and his acquittal.
