Court acquits man in rape and cheating case, his two kin of caste-based slur charge

Thane, Sep 30 (PTI) A court in Maharashtra's Thane district has acquitted a man in a case of rape and cheating, and his two family members of caste-based abuse, stating that the prosecution failed to prove the charges against them.

A copy of the order passed on September 24 was made available on Tuesday.

Additional sessions court judge A S Bhagwat, functioning as a special court under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, acquitted Kaustubh Pravin Shinde (30), along with his mother and brother, of all charges in the 2022 case.

The case was registered under sections 376 (2) (rape), 420 (cheating), 504 (intentional insult) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at the Mumbra police station based on a complaint filed by a 19-year-old woman from an SC community.

The complainant alleged that Shinde, who belonged to the Maratha community, kept physical relations with her between September 2019 and 2021 on the promise of marriage. However, he later refused to marry her stating his family was not ready for his marriage with her as she was from a "low caste".

She also alleged that during their meeting, the other two accused publicly insulted her parents using casteist slurs.

The court, however, said the prosecution's evidence was insufficient to sustain any of the serious charges against the trio. PTI COR NP