IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Date of Decision: 17.03.2025.

Shabnam ....Applicant.

Versus State of Haryana and another ...Respondents.

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CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SUDHIR SINGH HON'BLE MRS. JUSTICE SUKHVINDER KAUR .......

Present: Mr. Ankit Kamboj, Advocate for Mr. Munish Mittal, Advocate for the applicant.

Mr. Hitesh Pandit, Addl. A.G., Haryana.

Mr. Rajesh Duhan, Advocate (Legal Aid Counsel)

for respondent No.2.

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Sukhvinder Kaur , J .

1. Applicant/ complainant has preferred the instant application under Section 378(4) Cr.P.C. seeking leave to appeal against judgment dated 30.08.2017, passed by learned Additional Sessions Judge-Cum- Special Court for the cases of Heinous Crime against Women, Karnal, vide which respondent No.2 has been acquitted of the charges under Sections

376 and 506 IPC.

2. The factual scenario, as highlighted by the prosecution, is that on 23.07.2015, a complaint was received by post in the Police Station addressed to C.M. Window, Karnal with request to initiate proceedings against Sunil Kumar son of Munni Ram, resident of Village Janesro, District Karnal. It was alleged by the complainant (name withheld to conceal her identity and to be referred as complainant/ prosecutrix hereinafter) that she was resident of Karnal. The aforesaid Sunil, who was a goon had made her life a hell. Earlier also, she had moved a complaint dated 20.03.2015 at Police Station City, Karnal with the request to take action against him for committing offence punishable under Section 376 IPC, but to no avail. He used to roam around her house, using abusing language and it was his daily routine to threaten her with dire consequences, if she would not withdraw her earlier complaint dated 20.03.2015. He also used to threaten her to commit suicide and get her involved in false case for instigating him to commit suicide. On receipt of aforesaid complaint at the Police Station, statement of the complainant was recorded by the police. She stated that she was married to one Sonu in the year 2011. She had left him and shifted to Indri alongwith her children. She took a house on rent near Ram Leela ground and used to earn her livelihood by cooking food in houses of people. About four years back, services of complainant were hired by Sunil for cooking etc. as his sister had died. On 'tervi' of his sister, when she was cooking food, Sunil interacted with her and she told her woes to him. He told her that he was Sarpanch of village and assured her that he would get her ration card prepared and would also manage to get allotted a plot in her name. She was allured by his offers. Thereafter, he started visiting the house of the complainant in Indri and she started reposing faith in him. About four years earlier, when her children had gone for tuition and she was alone at her house, Sunil came to her house and raped her. He threatened her not to disclose anything to anyone and undertook to bring up her children. Being under fear the prosecutrix started obeying him and he kept on visiting her at Indri for six months and kept on raping her. After six months of the occurrence, she shifted to Karnal in a rented accommodation.

Sunil also came to know about it and again started bothering her. He threatened her that he would get her daughter 'S' abducted and would consume poison and would accuse the prosecutrix for the same. Prosecutrix further stated that Sunil also obtained her signatures on number of papers on the pretext of getting some job arranged for her. On the basis of aforesaid complaint and statement of prosecutrix, the present FIR No.313 dated 23.07.2015 for commission of offences punishable under Sections 376 and 506 IPC was registered against accused Sunil. During the investigation, site plan of place of occurrence was prepared. The prosecutrix was medico legally examined and she was also subjected to counselling. Statement of prosecutrix was got recorded before Illaqa Magistrate under Section 164 Cr.P.C. As accused was grante