Lucknow court acquits railway officer in daughter's rape case

LUCKNOW: A senior Railway officer accused of sexually assaulting and raping his daughter has been acquitted by a POCSO court in Lucknow.The judgment was delivered on Tuesday by Additional District Judge, POCSO Court, Mohammed Qamruzzama Khan. The case stemmed from an FIR lodged at Aliganj police station in Sept 2021 by the officer’s daughter, who alleged that her father had been sexually abusing her since she was 14 years old.Following the complaint, police investigated the matter and filed a chargesheet against the officer on Dec 9, 2021.The accused was booked under Section 376 of the IPC for rape, Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and Section 323 of the IPC for causing hurt.In her complaint, the daughter alleged that the assaults took place on multiple occasions and at different locations, including Allahabad, Asansol and Lucknow. She also accused her father of physically assaulting her during the period of the alleged abuse, claiming that he beat her with slippers and used other forms of violence.During the trial, the prosecution relied primarily on the testimony of the complainant.However, lawyer for the Railway officer, Pranshu Agrawal, said the court found inconsistencies in her statements and noted the absence of corroborative evidence to support the allegations.According to Agrawal, the court held that the prosecution failed to establish the charges beyond reasonable doubt.Agrawal also said the court took note of the complainant’s alleged involvement in an earlier criminal case from 2020, in which she was chargesheeted in connection with the double murder of her mother and brother.He claimed the court found that she concealed her identity and filed the rape complaint under a different name as a counter case against her father.He further argued that the complainant’s background was also discussed during proceedings, including the fact that she was a black belt in taekwondo and a national-level pistol shooting champion. With the acquittal, the court brought to a close a case that involved serious allegations under both the IPC and the POCSO Act.(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)