Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh): The Madhya Pradesh High Court has set aside a lower court order of 1998 convicting a man of kidnapping a woman of a different faith, whose kin had claimed she was a minor at the time.
Nayab Khan was, on August 26, 1998, sentenced to two years in jail and fined Rs 5,000 by the court of the Panna additional sessions judge under section 363 (kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code.
He was convicted in a case that was lodged on the complaint of one Ram Sevak Goutam who had told police his "minor daughter" was kidnapped after she went out to answer nature's call on June 27, 1995.
The police had managed to trace the girl after a month and reunited her with her parents, while Khan was charged with kidnapping.
Khan's counsel Amanulla Usmani said the trial court had erred in holding that the prosecutrix was a minor at the time of the incident, as she had admitted before police that she was above 18 years of age.
Even an expert, Dr GP Singh, had given evidence that she was an adult, while she herself told court she had voluntarily accompanied the accused, the counsel told court.
In the HC order of October 13, Justice Anjuli Palo observed, "Looking at the testimony of the prosecutrix herself, her parents as well as the report of Dr GP Singh and in view of the law laid down by the Supreme Court, this Court is of the considered opinion that benefit of doubt be given to the accused/appellant".
"On the basis of the material available on record, the prosecutrix was major at the time of the incident. This court comes to the conclusion that no offence under Section 363 of the Indian Penal Code is made out against the appellant. Accordingly, the appeal is allowed. The impugned judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated August 26, 1998 are hereby set aside," the HC order further said.
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