Thane: Stepdad framed for rape by family freed after 7 years

KALYAN: A 34-year-old Dombivli resident who spent seven years in jail on charges of raping his 15-year-old step-daughter has been acquitted by the Kalyan sessions court. The man, Vipul Narkar (34), had been falsely implicated by his stepdaughter, wife and the wife's first husband, the court said. The girl, who was in a relationship with a boy, had been scolded by the stepfather and she got the idea to frame him after watching a crime show on television, reports Pradeep Gupta.
Narkar said that his lawyer, Ganesh Gholap, who knew of his innocence, helped him fight the legal battle and get an acquittal.
The lawyer said that in 2014 Narkar met the girl's mother, a divorcee with two children-a 15-year-old daughter and a 13-year-old son. He married the woman and let her two children into his Dombivli flat.
Girl, a minor, not punished for filing the false plaint
An acquitted Dombivli man, falsely accused of raping his stepdaughter in 2015, had caught her twice with a boy and scolded her. The girl attempted suicide and was admitted to a hospital where she told the police that the stepfather had sexually assaulted her.
On a complaint, Narkar was arrested. The lawyer said he got to know about Narkar and learnt that he had been framed. Lawyer Gholap took up the case without charging any fee. He said the medical report had not shown any sign of sexual assault. The girl told the court that she and her mother had sold Narkar’s Dombivli flat and had gone back to live with her biological father. She even told the court that she had tried to end her life as her boyfriend had refused to marry her.
Gholap said that the court did not punish the girl for filing a false case as she was a minor at the time. “Now that Narkar has lost his all, I will approach the Human Rights Commission to get financial aid for him,” he said, adding that he is also trying to find out how Narkar’s wife managed to sell his house without his permission while he was in jail. Narkar, on release from jail, lives in the lawyer’s office. A social worker, Deepika Bhardwaj, has launched crowdfunding campaign for him.