5 yrs on, court acquits man as woman says rape FIR was ‘a misunderstanding’
Times of India | 3 September 2025
Kolkata: Five years after being accused of rape and cheating, a man was acquitted of the charges last week after the complainant told the court that she had lodged the FIR over a "misunderstanding".
The man had spent 51 days in custody.
The woman had not only lodged a complaint at Burtolla PS on Nov 24, '20, but also deposed before a judicial magistrate and identified the person during a test identification parade. But on March 20, 2025, she told Judge Anindya Banerjee the FIR was registered due to a misunderstanding and she remembered nothing about the complaint.
In her complaint, the woman had alleged she had been in a relationship with the man since Jan 2017 and that she agreed to be with him only after he promised to marry her and keep her happy.
On Nov 23, 2020, she alleged, the man, who had promised her marriage, took her to a hotel and spent the night with her. But the next morning, he said he would not be able to marry her and fled, she had claimed. The woman had lodged the complaint the very next day.
According to the Aug 28 judgment, the man was arrested on Nov 25, 2020 and was granted bail on Jan 14, 2021, having spent 51 days in prison. In March 2021, cops filed a charge sheet against the person for rape and cheating.
The trial began in March 2025. The first person to depose in court was the woman.
She deposed that she "had a relationship with the person for about 4 to 5 years ago and she had physical relations with him, that due to a misunderstanding with him, she had lodged a complaint against him and she did not remember anything else". The woman also said the "complaint was written by a friend" but she "did not know as per whose instruction the complaint was written".
She alleged she told no one about the incident.
The woman's mother, grandmother and a neighbour could not shed light on the allegations either.
Police claimed their rape charge sheet was backed by not just the complaint but also the woman's deposition under Sec 164 of CrPC, TI parade and the hotel room registration details.
But Judge Banerjee was not convinced. In his six-page order, he wrote: "From the evidence of the woman, it appears that the only allegation made by her against the accused was that he indulged in a physical relationship with her.
It appears that two adult persons had indulged in consensual sex." The judge said the woman "stated the complaint was lodged due to some misunderstanding". Judge Banerjee said merely stating that "the accused indulged in sexual intercourse with her" fails to establish rape.
Acquitting the person, the judge said, "None of the other prosecution witnesses corroborated the prosecution case. The prosecution seems to have failed miserably to bring home the charge u/s 417/376 of IPC and the accused is entitled to the benefit of the doubt. I find him not guilty."