11 January,2023 04:15 PM IST | Thane | PTI
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A court in Maharashtra's Thane district has acquitted a man and his mother accused in a case of kidnap and rape of a 14-year-old girl in 2011, giving them the benefit of doubt.
Sessions Judge Dr Rachna R Tehra in the order passed on January 6 held that the prosecution failed to prove the charges against the accused beyond reasonable doubt and hence they need to be set free.
A copy of the order was made available on Tuesday.
The prosecution told the court that on April 29, 2011, the girl left her home in Navi Mumbai and did not return.
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Her parents carried out a search, but could not find her. They later came to know that the 31-year-old man had abducted her.
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The girl's parents approached his family who drove them away and threatened them, the prosecution told the court.
The judge in her order said on the basis of evidence available on record, it appears the prosecution has examined only two witnesses and they both have not supported the case.
Despite summons being issued a number of times, the informant and the victim have not been traced, the court said.
There is nothing on record to show the accused (man) kidnapped the girl and raped her or that his mother and father forced the girl into the relationship, it said.
"All in all, from the material on record it is crystal clear that the prosecution has failed to establish the charges levelled against accused persons," the judge noted in her order while acquitting the man and his 51-year-old mother.
The man's father, who was also an accused in the case, during pendency of the trial and hence his name was deleted from the case.
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