Girl and parents resile from statement; 3 acquitted in gangrape case

New Delhi, Sept 8: Three youths, accused of abducting and gangraping a girl, have been acquitted by a Delhi court on the ground that she and her parents turned "hostile" during deposition.

Additional sessions judge Renu Bhatnagar let off Uttar Pradesh residents Mustiak and Sakir and Delhi resident Sakib, saying there is no "incriminating evidence" against them. "To support its case, the prosecution has examined three witnesses (girl, her father and her mother). The three witnesses, who are examined, are hostile and have resiled from their statements. The prosecutrix (girl) has turned hostile on the point of identity of the accused and had denied that accused persons had committed rape with her. The other two witnesses have also resiled on the point that they have told the police about the rape committed upon their daughter," the court said.

It said if the statements of the remaining witnesses are recorded, "it cannot bring home the guilt of accused persons". Mustiak, Sakir and Sakib were arrested on a complaint lodged by the girl's father, who had alleged that when his daughter was returning home on October 8 last year, one among them had kidnapped her from Badarpur bus terminal here and took her to a lonely place at Noida.

Three witnesses are hostile and have resiled from their statement

"She (girl) came to Badarpur border where she met Sakib, who took her in a dumper to Noida along with his friends. The driver of the dumper did a wrong act with her. Thereafter, they all took her to a secluded place and committed rape on her," the father had said.

However, during the deposition, the girl's father stated that he did not know anything about the case, it said.

PTI