JNU ex-student gets ‘benefit of doubt’ in 2016 hostel rape case, acquitted

A Delhi court has acquitted a former JNU student accused of raping a fellow student in 2016, giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Assistant Sessions Judge Pawan Kumar was hearing a case registered at Vasant Kunj police station against the man, who was accused of raping the woman in a hostel room at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on the intervening night of August 20 and 21, 2016.

According to the prosecution, the accused and the victim were pursuing higher studies at JNU and were residents of different hostels.

In a judgment passed on July 21, the court held that “the benefit of the doubt goes in favour of the accused” because the testimony of the litigant was not beyond doubt.

The court’s doubts

Noting the backdrop of the alleged incident that occurred in the hostel room after midnight and continued till 2.30 am while the students’ union elections were scheduled the next month and all parties were about to declare their candidates, the court said some suspicion arose on the litigant’s failure to explain why she had not raised alarm at the very first opportunity.

It said there were more doubts on the prosecution’s version that the litigant escaped from the room when the accused went to the bathroom without bolting the room from outside.

Also read: Chhattisgarh: Minor girl student raped in school hostel in Sukma district

The litigant did not raise any alarm and seek help from any other resident of the hostel while she was running away from the room, the court said, adding that there was “no explanation as to the fact that no resident heard the accused screaming while he was chasing the prosecutrix”.

The court said her deposition was contradicted by an independent witness, the security guard.

The security guard denied the presence of the accused at the gate, who, as stated by the litigant, came there while chasing her. There is no explanation for why the accused left the litigant all alone at the gate and returned to his room to take the key and she did not call the police even at the exit gate in the presence of the guard, the court said.

The court said one of the persons from whom the litigant sought help was not examined and her statement in the Medico-Legal Case (MLC) about taking a bath and changing clothes in another hostel room was not corroborated.

“No explanation is forthcoming from the prosecution that no police call was made by the prosecutrix in the safe environment with her friends,” the court said.

No medical evidence

Also, the court said there was no medical evidence to corroborate her testimony and that no injuries were mentioned in the MLC.

Noting a later report dated August 25 by a doctor mentioning injuries, the court said it was not free of doubt and appeared to be an afterthought.

Also read: Uttarakhand HC: Women misusing anti-rape law against partners

There are no biological traces on the medical exhibits of the accused and the litigant and the exhibits which were collected from the crime scene. The crime scene was not disturbed and the same is proved to be intact, the court said.

It said in a criminal trial, the onus remains on the prosecution to prove the guilt of the accused beyond all reasonable doubt and the benefit of the doubt, if any, must necessarily go in favour of the accused.

(With agency inputs)