Dad-in-law freed in rape case, daughter-in-law faces perjury charges

New Delhi A 73yearold exarmy man has been freed of the charges of allegedly raping his daughterinlaw by a Delhi court which observed that the woman filed a false case against her fatherinlaw and ridiculed him by making him face the ignominy of being a rape accusedAdditional Sessions Judge Virender Bhatt ordered that the woman be booked for falsely implicating her fatherinlaw merely due to matrimonial dispute between her and her husbandIt is ironical to note that even old and infirm fatherin law a fatherly figure has not been spared of the false rape accusations The accused who has already seen 73 summers of his life and had an unblemished career as an army man had to face the ignominy and ridicule of being a rape accused the judge saidThe court also noted that the accused has been falsely implicated by the woman merely on account of matrimonial dispute between her and her husband who had filed a divorce case against her which is pendingThe judge observed that no potency test was conducted on the accused and the doctor had casually opined that he was capable to perform sexual actI wonder why it did not come to the mind of the doctor or his seniors in the hospital that the accused brought before them for potency test is a 73yearold person and it would be absolutely improper and against the canons of professional ethics to opine without conducting any detailed tests upon him that he can perform sexual act the judge said while rejecting the doctors testimonyThe court noted that it was a common practice in all hospitals that doctors do not conduct potency tests on rape accused and rather carry out a mere physical examinationIt appears that there are no guidelines for doctors regarding the manner in which potency test of a rape accused is to be conducted Therefore let a copy of this judgement be sent to the Secretary Department of Health Government of India with the directions to circulate it amongst all the doctors in Delhi who are assigned the task of conducting potency test of a rape accused and also to frame proper guidelines in this regard if found necessary it saidAccording to the prosecution the woman had told the police that the accused was raping her repeatedly for over a year and had been threatening her She said that hours prior to the complaint lodged on June 14 2014 also he tried to sexually assault her and beat her up when she resistedOn June 14 last year the womans brother had lodged a complaint against the accused a Najafgarh resident for allegedly committing offences under sections 323 voluntarily causing hurt 354 molestation 376rape and 506criminal intimidation of the IPC the prosecution had saidDuring the trial the man had denied the allegations and claimed that he was not capable of performing sexual act because of old age and was suffering from grave arthritis He had said that the woman had filed a false case as a counterblast to the divorce petition filed against her by his sonThe judge said the court would be failing in its duty if appropriate proceedings are not initiated against the woman and directed the court staff to file a complaintThe woman appears to be a prevaricate Her overall conduct does not indicate that she has been raped the court saidThe court noted that the conduct of the woman and her strong built did not indicate that she was raped In fact her fatherinlaw was old and fragile it said adding It is very difficult to believe that a person like the accused would succeed in committing forcible sexual intercourse upon a lady like the prosecutrix and that too repeatedlyWhile acquitting the man the court also relied on the medical report of the complainant saying that the few external injury marks found on her body could be selfinflicted It also noted that the woman and her husband had started living in a separate house after the first incident of rape then why did she visit the accused again on the date of the alleged incident