Thane court acquits doctor of rape charges
Thane: The Thane Sessions Court acquitted a doctor accused in a 2017 rape case, after failing to prove the charges as he needed to be given the benefit of the doubt.
The 50-year-old doctor was accused of raping a patient in his hospital on August 18, 2017, and also of threatening her to not reveal the incident to anyone, as per the prosecution.
A female patient had accused a doctor of raping her in his clinic under the pretext of providing surrogacy services.
Also Read:Sion Hospital doctor assault case: 2 acquitted due to lack of evidence
He was charged under sections 376 (rape), 420 (cheating) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Defence counsel advocate NN Rajurkar said 13 witnesses were examined in the case but failed to prove the case.
In her order of July 3, the details of which were made available on Thursday, Sessions Judge Rachna R Tehra said, from the material on record, the prosecution has failed to establish that the accused committed rape on the prosecutrix, cheated her and threatened her with dire consequences.
While ruling the verdict, Judge Rachna Tehra said "The star witness has not stated a single word regarding rape on her by the accused. Further, she has also not stated a single word in respect of cheating done on her by the accused and any threats given to her.
"The Chemical Analysis reports are also silent on the alleged offence," the court added as reported by TOI.
Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported that with no strong evidence to prove the crime, the Sessions Court of Maharashtra relieved two persons, including a senior citizen, by acquitting them from charges of assaulting an on-duty doctor at a Sion hospital in Mumbai. The judge passed an order acquitting the father-son duo accused following the failure of the prosecution to prove their argument with proper evidence. Therefore, the duo have been released on bail.
