28 April,2026 07:12 PM IST | Thane | mid-day online correspondent
The court concluded that the prosecution failed to establish coercion, inducement, or criminal intimidation. Representational Pic/File
A court in Thane district, Maharashtra, has acquitted a 34-year-old man accused of raping and impregnating his sister-in-law. The court ruled that the prosecution failed to prove the charges, particularly as key witnesses turned hostile during the trial, reported the PTI.
Additional Sessions Judge Premal S Vithalani held the accused, a resident of Kalwa, not guilty under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Section 68(a) (sexual intercourse by a person in a position of authority or fiduciary relationship) and Section 88 (causing miscarriage without consent).
According to the prosecution, the woman had moved into the accused's home in 2021 to assist her elder sister after childbirth.
It was alleged that during this period, the man forcibly established a sexual relationship with her and that she became pregnant in 2022. The pregnancy was later terminated, according to the PTI.
The court noted that, to establish the offence under Section 68(a), it must be proven that the accused misused a position of trust or authority to exploit the victim. However, the woman testified that the relationship had been consensual, the news agency reported.
The court also pointed out that the victim's brother denied any knowledge of the alleged harassment or pregnancy, further weakening the prosecution's case.
In its ruling dated April 18, the court concluded that the prosecution failed to establish coercion, inducement, or criminal intimidation. As a result, the accused was acquitted of all charges.
Meanwhile, in an another incident earlier this month, a court in Thane district of Maharashtra had reportedly acquitted a 53-year-old man accused of raping a minor girl.
The court, while passing the order, stated that the prosecution's evidence was not "cogent and clinching" and questioned the victim's claim of recording the act on her phone.
According to the PTI, Special Judge Premal S Vithalani (for POCSO Act cases), in the order dated April 9, also highlighted contradictions in the victim's testimony.
During the trial, the prosecution alleged that between December 2022 and January 2023, the man, a tailor by profession and neighbour of the 17-year-old victim in Thane city, raped the victim on multiple occasions after obtaining her house keys from her mother, as per PTI.
(with PTI inputs)
