Mumbai: A magistrate court has acquitted a 40-year-old accused of stalking a 25-year-old woman for over three months, reasoning that it is highly impossible to follow the woman walking on the footpath at busy morning office hours on bike from the other side of the road as alleged.
The court said it is "beyond explanation" referring to her testimony that this would happen in morning time. "On the busy roads of Mumbai in the morning hours when there is always a rush of people to reach railway stations and their respective offices, is beyond explanation," it said.
Metropolitan Magistrate Yashshree Marulkar said the complainants basic version cannot be believed considering the situation of the road and time also her allegation that he did it for a long duration of three months.
Why she had not approached the police immediately?
The court reasoned that in the case that he stalked her for such a long time, why she had not approached the police immediately and why she waited for such a long period.
The man had taken the defence that he was not following her but that she had a misunderstanding as he had a garage at the end of the lane where she resided. The court said the defence was believable.
The woman had said in her testimony before the court that she would leave her home in a market area in South Mumbai and walk to Marine Lines station around 8.30 am to go to her workplace.
She said that the man would follow her from the other side of the road on his bike when she walked on the footpath and would stare at her while she took the bridge to go to the station. His staring made her feel uncomfortable, she complained. The woman said she recognized the accused as he worked at a workshop near her home.
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