Thane court acquits MSF constable in rape, forced abortion case filed by colleague

A court in Maharashtra’s Thane has acquitted a 34-year-old Maharashtra Security Force (MSF) constable in a 2020 case involving allegations of rape, forced abortion and cheating filed by a female colleague.

Additional Sessions Judge G T Pawar passed the order on August 28, holding that the prosecution had failed to prove the accused’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

According to the prosecution, the woman and the accused, both MSF constables, worked at Ghatkopar Railway Station and entered into a relationship in 2018.

The woman alleged that the accused repeatedly had physical relations with her on the promise of marriage and that she became pregnant, following which the pregnancy was allegedly terminated without her consent.

She approached Mumbra police on March 4, 2020, after learning that the accused had married another woman. The case was registered under IPC Sections 376 (rape), 313 (causing miscarriage without the woman's consent), 420 (cheating) and 506 (criminal intimidation).

The court, however, noted contradictions in the complainant's statements and said the evidence indicated that the relationship was consensual rather than based on a false promise of marriage.

The court observed that the relationship had continued for more than one-and-a-half years and that the complainant had continued to have a physical relationship with the accused even after learning that his marriage had been fixed with another woman.

It also noted that a non-cognisable complaint filed in January 2020 did not contain an allegation of rape and instead referred to abuse and threats to kill.

“From the statement of the informant, it is clearly established that the accused intended to marry her and she was refusing to marry him,” the court said.

The court held that the contradictions in the complainant's statements made her version of rape on the pretext of marriage unreliable. It rejected the prosecution's contention that the accused had made a false promise of marriage and acquitted him.