Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has acquitted Dev Singh and another accused in a criminal case dating back to 1988. The court of Justice Tej Pratap Tiwari delivered the verdict. Advocates P.N. Mishra and Raghuvansh Mishra argued the appeal. On December 3, 1986, the body of a newborn baby was recovered from a village well in the Mehrauni police station area of ​​Lalitpur. Based on this, a report was initially filed against an unknown person. Later, during the investigation, based on the statements of the victim (whose age was disputed) and her mother, Dev Singh and Nabbu were charged under sections of rape, murder, and destruction of evidence.

On October 13, 1988, the Lalitpur Sessions Judge, while acquitting both accused of murder, sentenced them to three years’ rigorous imprisonment and a fine of ₹250 each under Section 376 (rape). Hearing the appeal, the High Court found that the medical examination (including an X-ray report) had estimated the victim’s age to be between 16 and 18 years, while the trial court had assumed her age to be 15 without any evidence. The court noted that the age of consent, according to the law in force at the time, was 16 years. The court also noted that the FIR initially contained no rape allegation and only related to the recovery of the newborn’s body. Later, during the police investigation, the victim and her mother, finding themselves implicated in the child’s death, fabricated a story of rape, even though the victim’s own Section 164 statement clearly stated that the relationship was consensual. On these grounds, the High Court set aside the judgment of the lower court, acquitted both the appellants and relieved the sureties of their liability.