{"id":273807,"date":"2025-04-04T07:37:20","date_gmt":"2025-04-04T07:37:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/04\/delhi-hc-acquits-man-in-rape-case-says-dna-proof-alone-cannot-establish-lack-of-consent\/"},"modified":"2025-04-04T07:37:20","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T07:37:20","slug":"delhi-hc-acquits-man-in-rape-case-says-dna-proof-alone-cannot-establish-lack-of-consent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/04\/delhi-hc-acquits-man-in-rape-case-says-dna-proof-alone-cannot-establish-lack-of-consent\/","title":{"rendered":"Delhi HC acquits man in rape case, says DNA proof alone cannot establish lack of consent"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Delhi<\/div>


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In a significant judgment, the Delhi High Court<\/a> has acquitted a man convicted of rape, clarifying that DNA evidence proving fatherhood does not automatically establish that sex was non-consensual. The ruling underscores a key legal principle: pregnancy alone cannot confirm rape unless supported by clear proof that consent was absent, as reported by TOI.<\/p>\n

Justice Amit Mahajan, who delivered the verdict, stated in his order, \u201cThe DNA report merely proves paternity \u2014 it does not and cannot, by itself, establish the absence of consent. It is trite law that the offence under Section 376 (rape) of the IPC hinges on the absence of consent.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Inconsistencies undermine testimony<\/h2>\n

The case involved a woman who accused her neighbour of raping her multiple times after inviting her over to play Ludo. She claimed that these assaults eventually led to a pregnancy. The child was confirmed through DNA testing to be biologically fathered by the accused. However, the High Court found multiple gaps in her version of events.<\/p>\n

Justice Mahajan noted that the woman, despite being an adult, educated, and living with her family, had not approached authorities promptly. The FIR was filed in January 2018 without any stated reason for the delay.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe possibility that the allegations were made to retrospectively reframe a consensual relationship as rape, in order to shield the prosecutrix and her family from societal backlash, cannot be ruled out,\u201d the court said.<\/p>\n

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Live Events<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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No proof of force or resistance<\/h2>\n

The court also pointed to the absence of medical or forensic evidence to support the allegation of rape. It flagged the lack of signs of force or resistance, and further observed that the woman continued to visit the man\u2019s house over a period of time \u2014 not just once, but repeatedly.According to the judgment, the woman developed an emotional connection with the accused. These details cast serious doubt on her claim of being coerced into the relationship. The trial court, which had sentenced the man to ten years in prison in December 2022, did not fully address these inconsistencies.\u201cThe law, of course, does not presume consent merely from silence. But it also does not convict in the absence of proof beyond reasonable doubt. And in this case, doubt persists \u2014 not due to conjecture, but due to the evidence itself,\u201d Justice Mahajan stated.<\/p>\n

The man and the woman lived in the same neighbourhood. She alleged that he called her over under the pretext of playing a board game and sexually assaulted her several times. The first formal complaint came long after the alleged incidents took place.<\/p>\n

The man consistently maintained that the relationship was consensual. On appeal, the High Court reviewed the entire record and found the prosecution\u2019s case \u201chighly improbable.\u201d<\/p>\n

By overturning the lower court\u2019s decision, the Delhi High Court has reinforced the principle that a conviction for rape cannot rest solely on a pregnancy or a DNA match. There must be unambiguous evidence that the act occurred without consent \u2014 a standard that protects both the complainant\u2019s dignity and the accused\u2019s right to a fair trial.<\/p>\n

In cases involving sensitive allegations, the court reminded that justice demands not only belief but also proof.
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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a significant judgment, the Delhi High Court has acquitted a man convicted of rape, clarifying that DNA evidence proving fatherhood does not automatically establish that sex was non-consensual. The ruling underscores a key legal principle: pregnancy alone cannot confirm rape unless supported by clear proof that consent was absent, as reported by TOI. Justice […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":273808,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img.etimg.com\/photo\/118783427.cms","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[602],"tags":[48167,210607,1287,16724,2921,2446,210604,192245,5721,6563,210610,210608,6061,210606,108,210611,6064,6677,210609,210605],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273807"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273807"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":273809,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273807\/revisions\/273809"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/273808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}