A court in Maharashtra's Thane district has acquitted a 46-year-old man accused of raping a woman who was in a relationship with him for nearly 14 years.

Thane Sessions Judge Dr Rachna R Tehra said the woman is married having two children. Hence, she is well acquainted with what is good and what is bad.

The relationship kept by her with the accused for about 14 years is a very long span of period. It is highly impossible to accept the fact that due to threats she kept physical relations with the accused for such a long period, the court said in the order passed on November 1.

A copy of the order, which did not mention the woman's age and place of incident, was made available on Sunday.

The court also acquitted the man's mother who was booked under various charges in the case.

The prosecution told the court that the victim was a neighbour of the accused and knew him very well.

On October 24, 2013, the victim filed a police complaint against the accused.

The woman said she got married in 1992. She alleged the accused had called her to his house under the pretext that his mother was not well.

When the victim went to his house, she found his mother was fine. The accused gave the woman an intoxicating drink after consuming which she fell unconscious.

When she woke up, she found herself feeling uneasy and in pain and kiss marks on her chest, the prosecution told the court.

When the victim tried to get out of the house, she found the door locked from outside. After the accused's mother returned, the door was opened and the victim went out.

After a few days, the accused called up the victim and threatened to make her obscene pictures viral and also kill her children if she did not have physical relations with him.

The woman then out of fear had physical relations with the accused, the court was told.

The judge in her order said, “From the above, it emerges that there is not one but various material contradictions in the statement of the prosecutrix recorded under Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure with the statement recorded before court, during the course of trial." This tantamounts to material improvements and as a consequence, the same are unworthy of any credence being assigned thereto, the court said.

Besides the above discussed material contradictions, there is also a huge delay of nearly 14 years in lodging the present FIR which also goes on to cast a serious doubt on the case set up by the prosecutrix, it said.

"Though delay in such cases is not fatal per se, but considering the broad probabilities of the case, the delay in reporting the matter to police in the instance case, is of importance. Nonetheless, the delay does not find explained, even remotely, by the prosecution and therefore, it affects the probative value of prosecutix's evidence," the court said.

As per the prosecutrix, she was blackmailed by the accused on the pretext of her obscene photographs/videos. However, those photographs/videos were not placed on record by the prosecution, it noted.

Moreover, there is no evidence on record to prove that the prosecutrix was administered some stupefying/intoxicating substance, the court said.

There is no dispute that in case where there are allegations of rape, delay in general is not fatal to prosecution case. However, in the present circumstances, where the statement of the prosecutrix is not credible, the relevant delay is also but one of the reason, it said.

"Further, the prosecutrix is a married woman having two children. Hence, she is well acquainted with what is good and what is bad. The relationship kept by the prosecutrix with the accused for about 14 years is a very long span of period," the court said.

"It is highly impossible to accept the fact that due to threats, the prosecutrix kept physical relations with the accused for such a long period," the judge said.

From the material on record and as discussed above, it is clear that the prosecution has failed to establish that the accused committed rape on the prosecutrix and prepared lascivious and obscene clips, and the accused in furtherance of their common intention threatened her with criminal intimidation of making viral her obscene photographs, the court said.

"Upon a cumulative reading and appreciation of the evidence on record, this court comes to a conclusion that the statement of the prosecutrix is unworthy of acceptance because the same is found to be replete with infirmities," it said.

Therefore, the above details show that the prosecution failed to bring the accused in the web of charged offences, the court said.

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