Two men, accused of raping a woman together last year, have been acquitted by a Delhi court as she failed to identify them and the police failed in sending various medical samples for their forensic tests in time, resulting in their decay before the test.
Two men, accused of raping a woman together last year, have been acquitted by a Delhi court as she failed to identify them and the police failed in sending various medical samples for their forensic tests in time, resulting in their decay before the test.
"Since the woman has not identified the accused persons, categorically as the persons who had raped her, despite her examination, cross-examination and re-examination, the benefit of doubt has to be given to the accused persons in the facts and circumstances of the present case," additional sessions judge (ASJ) Sanjeev Aggarwal said.
"Both the accused persons are acquitted of the charges of gang rape under Section 376(2)(g) of the Indian Penal Code," the court said, despite suspecting that the duo, Pooth Khurd village residents Ashok Kumar and Sandeep, were the persons involved in the rape.
Observing that medical reports would have been the best evidence to prove the duo's crime, the court rued that nothing came against the accused in the forensic report though victim's clothes and her forensic samples were taken immediately after the incident.
"Yet it has been reported in the FSL report that all the blood samples were putrefied or there were no reaction. The said evidence would have been best scientific evidence to nail the culpability of the accused persons in the present case," the court said.
The judge had earlier expressed concern over the lack of facilities at police stations for preserving various medical and biological samples in criminal cases, often leading to their decay before being sent for forensic tests and affecting the outcome of the case.
The court had earlier sought from police the crucial details on preservation of samples at police stations after noting that blood and other medical samples of the accused and the victim in this case had decayed much before they were sent to the forensic laboratory for test.
The samples were found to have been sent after a lapse of one and half month.
According to the prosecution, the victim had come from Uttar Pradesh to Delhi to meet her husband who was working at Prahladpur here.
On her way to her husband's residence at Prahladpur from the bus stand, she was caught hold of by two men who took her to a vacant plot and raped her.
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