Peshawar High Court seeks govt response to petitions about school collapse

The Allahabad High Court has acquitted three men convicted of rape in a case dating back 43 years. The court dismissed the conviction after finding that the prosecution's evidence was riddled with contradictions and inconsistencies. Justice Abdul Shahid made the ruling in a October 12 order, noting that the prosecution had failed to provide a convincing explanation for the delay in registering the First Information Report (FIR) and discrepancies in the testimonies of the alleged victims.

The alleged incident occurred on October 17, 1983, when four men reportedly broke into a house around 11 pm, when a woman and her sister-in-law were asleep. According to the prosecution, the accused used weapons to threaten the family and sexually assaulted the two women. The First Information Report (FIR) was lodged six days later on October 23, 1983, due to the women's fear of the accused.

The high court found that the prosecution's case was undermined by several key issues. First, there were inconsistencies in the women's accounts regarding the role of the men. Second, there were discrepancies in the sequence of events and other peripheral details that could not all be dismissed as minor variations. Third, the medical examinations conducted six days after the incident found no external or recent injuries on either woman.

The court also acknowledged the enmity between the accused and the family of the victims, labeling it a "double-edged weapon." However, the court concluded that the credibility of the witnesses and the prosecution were not found to be reliable or truthful. Consequently, the high court set aside the conviction and acquitted the three men.