Court directs perjury proceedings against woman in false rape case

New Delhi: "Perjury is often bold and open. It is truth that is shamefaced," said a court here while directing the initiation of perjury proceedings against a woman for filing a false case of rape.

The court, which acquitted the accused, observed that it was a case of a honey trap wherein the alleged victim entrapped the man in a pre-planned manner to extort money from him.

Additional Sessions Judge Anuj Agrawal was hearing the case against the accused who was charged with the offences of rape, criminal intimidation, assaulting a woman with the intent to disrobe her, outraging a woman’s modesty and sexual harassment.

In its order dated April 1, the judge noted the evidence before it and said, "In the instant matter, the testimony of prosecutrix is not only full of contradictions but the same is inherently inconsistent, tainted and full of concoctions to say the least.

"Perjury is often bold and open. It is truth that is shamefaced: The above adage squarely applies to the case herein as we would see while I pen out this judgment," the judge added.

The court, noting the woman’s statement, said that she had joined a private company on a date when it did not exist.

It said, "Her entire version of coming in contact with the accused in relation to opening a Demat account which was otherwise not the object of her employer, coupled with the fact that she started sending romantic messages/gestures to accused and in light of forensic science laboratory (FSL) report and other material contradictions leads to only one irresistible conclusion that it was a case of honey trap wherein victim entrapped accused in a pre-planned manner to extort money from him."

Acquitting the accused, the court said that it was evident that the prosecutrix made a false statement before the court, and that she "concocted a false story of rape/molestation."

The judge, however, said that a simple acquittal could not compensate for the hapless accused’s agony as the false accusation had the potential to tarnish his reputation and destroy his soul.

"I am reminded of one famous English poem which rhymes as ‘The song of the meek, will darken any brow, as they cry aloud and beseech justice.’ But how to find strength, to do the right, so that the meek shall also survive is the question before this court? The answer perhaps lies in hearing not only the shrieks of a complainant but also the unheard cries of a person standing before this court with folded hands beseeching justice for a crime that he never committed, which got louder as the lies of the prosecutrix got manifested with the progression of the trial," the judge said.

ASJ Agrawal said that the oath taken by a witness was a solemn appeal to the deity, made binding upon the conscience by a penalty for perjury.

"Since it is evident from record that the prosecutrix betrayed the solemn oath (she took in the witness box) and treaded on a treacherous path of perjury, therefore let a complaint under section 379 of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) for offences of perjury be sent against her to the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (central)," the judge said.