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Synopsis

In a groundbreaking ruling, a local court in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh has recently convicted and sentenced a woman for false testimony and false rape accusations. Court convicted the woman under Section 195 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced her to 4 years, 6 months and 8 days imprisonment, equating it to the duration the accused spent in jail.

Additional Sessions Judge Gyanendra Tripathi also imposed a fine of Rs. 5,88,822, mirroring the UP government's unskilled laborer wages for the duration the accused spent in jail, to be paid by the woman to the falsely accused man.

Denouncing the misuse of police and legal system for personal gain, court said, "It is highly objectionable to use police and court as medium to achieve one's illegal objective".

It emphasised that "although it is absolutely appropriate and expected for the government, administration and courts to ensure the safety of women through relevant policies and laws, it does not mean that women who take unfair advantage of it will have the right to attack the interests of men".

Court asserted that though "exemption should be provided" but "the actions of proven guilty women, like the one in the present case, are likely to harm the real victims of the society".

"In such a situation, it seems appropriate to punish the guilty with harsh punishment", held the court. 

The rape case was filed by the woman's mother against one Ajay @ Raghav under Sections 342, 363, 366, 376 of the IPC. Nisha, the victim, in her statement recorded under Section 164, CrPC, corroborated the prosecution's case.

She claimed that Ajay @ Raghav, known to her through her elder sister's association, abducted her from a marketplace and took her to Delhi for 10 days, where he subjected her to repeated acts of rape. Additionally, the girl asserted that she was sexually assaulted by 4-5 other men at the location where she was held captive.

However, during her cross-examination in court, Nisha contradicted her earlier statements given during examination-in-chief. She refuted any claims of sexual assault by Ajay @ Raghav and confessed to providing false testimony. She said that Ajay never took her anywhere. 

During the trial for false testimony, Nisha asserted that she was unaware of the contents of the FIR filed against Ajay by her mother who hated Ajay because of his association with her elder sister. She stated that her statements were made under pressure from her family and the police, who threatened to send her to Nari Niketan.

Moreover, court was apprised that Nisha was married. Her husband appeared before the court and claimed that he was frustrated with the repeated summons sent to Nisha regarding the rape case after their marriage, therefore, he had asked her to retract her statements against Ajay to resolve the case swiftly.

However, the court rejected the claims made by the woman's husband, deeming them baseless and lacking credibility.

Court said, "This case underscores a grave concern for society as a whole, where a labor class person was unjustly detained for a long period, in gross misuse of the law made for the protection of women".

Case Title: State of UP v. Nisha