IMPORTANT POINT
The judgment underscores the necessity for the prosecution to provide consistent and credible evidence in rape cases to meet the burden of proof.

JUDGMENT :

RITU BAHRI, C.J.

1. The State has come up in appeal against the judgment dated 30.09.2023, passed by Additional Session Judge/FTSC, Rudrapur, District Udham Singh Nagar, whereby the respondent-Naseem Hazrat, has been acquitted in trial facing under Section 376(2) of IPC.

2. As per the prosecution story, the victim was ill and in the year 2021, she got acquainted with the accused, who was engaged in occultism and in the year 2022, he gave intoxicants to the victim in the pretext of treatment and had physical relationship with the victim, and after taking the victim to Kaliyar Sharif, he kept the victim in a hotel, and raped her. The victim lodged the compliant regarding the incident on 19.01.2023 in P.S. Jaspur. On the basis of the compliant, a First Information Report was registered. After investigation by the Investigating Officer, the charge-sheet against the accused Naseem Ahmed @Naseem Hazrat for the offence punishable under Section 376 of IPC, was sent to the Court of Judicial Magistrate, Jaspur. Thereafter, cognizance was taken and the case was handed over to the Sessions Court on 12.05.2023. On 25.05.2023, the charges under Section 376(2) IPC were framed against the accused, and he denied the allegations and sought for a trial.

3. The prosecution has examined the following witnesses:

4. The prosecution has produced tehrir (Exhibit P-1); statement of victim recorded under Section 164 Cr.P.C. (Exhibit P-2); medical report (Exhibit P-3); recovery memo (Exhibit P-4); site plan and map (Exhibit P-5) and charge-sheet (Exhibit P-6) as documentary evidence.

5. The statement of accused was recorded under Section 313 Cr.P.C. The accused has stated that he does not have the answers to most of the questions, and he has been falsely implicated and he is innocent. The accused has produced DW-1-mother of the witness, in his defence.

6. The victim appeared as PW-1 and in her examination-in-chief, she stated that she is an M.A. and had fallen ill in the year 2021, and her mind used to go haywire and she would suddenly become unconscious and lose her senses. The accused used to be a person in her neighbouhood, who was called Sufi, and he was engaged in occultism and in the year 2022, she talked to the accused about her illness. Later, in the year 2022, accused Naseem Ahmed @ Naseem Hazrat came to her house and said that she was possessed by jinn and would have to be treated. It is stated that the accused called her to his house and she went to his house in Kheda Road, Pappu Colony. The accused took advantage of her unconsciousness and raped her. Thereafter, the accused came to her house, and there was no one at her house at that time, and he met her and started removing her clothes forcefully, but on that day, the accused did not make physical relations with her. In the year 2022, the accused had taken her to Kaliyar Sharif, and in Kaliyar Sharif, they had taken a room in Sabri Guest House where they had physical relations. She also went to Jaspur market where the accused met her and he started pressurizing the victim to take her to his house and when she refused, he told that he would make her video viral. On 13.01.2023, the victim filed a First Information Report at P.S. Jaspur (Exhibit P-1), and her medical examination was done in Jaspur Government Hospital, and she had given statements to the Magistrate which is (Exhibit P-2). She further stated that she had been living away from her family for three years and even since the Tantrik had come, she had been quarreling with her family members. It is further stated that she had gone alone to the house of the accused on his call. The accused had two wives and one of his wives did not live with him and the other wife went to the forest to collect fodder for goats. She also stated that both the daughters of the accused were elder to her and the son of the accuse