Cab driver in Delhi freed of rape charge

New Delhi: A taxi driver, accused of raping a woman passenger in his cab five months ago, has been acquitted by a Delhi court on the grounds that the victim's statements were contradictory and medical evidence did not support her allegations.

The court said it appeared from the evidence that some quarrel and struggle had taken place between the man and the woman inside the taxi as both had beaten and bitten each other but "to say that the accused has either raped her or attempted to rape her would not be in a justified conclusion".

"It is thus manifest that the woman does not qualify as a sterling witness. She has given contradictory, inconsistent and vacillating versions of the incident at every occasion when she was called upon to describe the incident.

"Her deposition before the court is replete with embellishments and inconsistencies. Therefore, no implicit reliance can be placed upon her testimony," Additional Sessions Judge Virender Bhat said, adding that prosecution evidence was neither credible nor trustworthy.

He said that medical as well as forensic evidence does not lend any assurance to truthfulness of woman's deposition.

The court said there were inconsistencies in the woman's statement as at one place she said the man tried to rape her, later she stated he raped her, while in the third testimony she alleged that he had committed unnatural sex with her.

According to the prosecution, the woman, who was working in a mall here, had hired the taxi of the accused on the night of April 9 from Dwarka Mor Metro Station in South West Delhi.

Another male passenger had also boarded the cab but got down after some distance. Police alleged that the driver then stopped the taxi and raped the woman.

The police was informed about the incident by a passerby who had called PCR saying a man was beating a woman in a cab.

On seeing the police, the driver fled in his vehicle but was chased and caught by the police and the woman was found sitting inside.

During trial, the driver claimed he was innocent and falsely implicated by the woman who had not paid him Rs 500 as taxi fare. The driver said when he sought the money, the woman raised a hue and cry, started quarrelling with him and bit him.

The court acquitted him of charges of rape, criminal intimidation, causing hurt and wrongful confinement of IPC.

The court said the deposition of the driver's wife and daughter also indicated that a demand of Rs five lakh was made from the side of prosecution to them for settlement of the case.