This Article is From Jan 27, 2013

Court acquits man of rape charge after he marries girl

New Delhi: A man facing trial for charges of raping a girl repeatedly on the pretext of marrying her has been let off by a Delhi court as she turned hostile and refused to pursue the case after the accused tied the knot with her.

A special fast track court, constituted to try cases of sexual offences against women, acquitted Varun Kapoor noting that the girl, who was the main witness, turned hostile and was "happily married" to him.

"In the circumstances, as the complainant who is the star witness has turned hostile and has not supported prosecution case and more importantly has married the accused (Kapoor) and is living with him happily and has not assigned any criminal role to the accused, the prosecution evidence is closed...," additional sessions judge Nivedita Anil Sharma said.

In this case, the girl had lodged a complaint in February last year alleging that she was repeatedly raped by Kapoor on the pretext of marrying her.

When the case was put on trial she said that a complaint was lodged due to "misunderstanding" and Kapoor has honoured his assurance by eventually marrying her on June 1 last year.

Taking into account that the girl turned hostile and also that she is now happily married, the bench acquitted Kapoor.

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