New Delhi, February 16 A Delhi court has acquitted two men accused of trafficking and wrongfully confining a woman in 2014, observing that the prosecution failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt after the complainant turned hostile during the trial.
Additional Sessions Judge Anuj Agrawal acquitted Kurban Ali and Tejarth Mohammad of offences under Sections 370 (trafficking), 342 (wrongful confinement), and 34 (common intention) of the IPC.
"I have no hesitation in holding that the prosecution has miserably failed to prove the guilt of the accused beyond all reasonable doubts, and they deserve to be acquitted of all the charges leveled against them," the court said in its February 11 judgment.
The case originated from an FIR registered at the New Friends Colony Police Station based on a complaint by the woman, who alleged that she was brought to Delhi under the pretense of employment and was confined at a placement agency operating from Taimoor Nagar.
According to the prosecution, on December 24, 2014, the woman was allegedly handed over to the accused by a third person, Sapan Uraon, who was declared absconding during the investigation. Police claimed that the accused demanded money from the victim's husband and refused to let her return home.
However, during the trial, the complainant retracted her earlier allegations and denied that she had been trafficked, confined, or forced to work.
"I came to Delhi with Sapan Urrao voluntarily to work. I was not lured or trafficked in any way. I don't know anything else," she told the court.
Despite being cross-examined by the prosecution after being declared hostile, she denied making the complaint and her statement before the judicial magistrate under Section 164 of the CrPC. During cross-examination by the defense, she admitted that the accused "did not commit any offense or wrongdoing against me."
The court noted, "The key witness for the prosecution is completely hostile to the prosecution's version. It is evident from her testimony that she did not depose anything incriminating against any of the accused and denied all suggestions regarding the alleged trafficking/confinement."
It also recorded that the victim's husband, cited as a material witness, could not be examined as he had died during the course of the trial.
"In view of the hostile testimony (of the complainant), the entire prosecution version crumbles, and nothing remains thereafter," the court said.
"It cannot be proven that any offense was committed against the victim or that the accused committed it," it added, acquitting both accused of all charges.
