Rajgarh, Madhya Pradesh: A sessions court in Madhya Pradesh’s Rajgarh district on 14 February acquitted former ward councillor Shafiq Ansari in a rape case after finding that the woman had made false allegations.
Following the rape complaint, local authorities demolished Ansari’s home, which was worth ₹2 crore, according to Madhya Pradesh-based journalist Kashif Kakvi, who posted about the incident on X. Ansari’s son and brother were also booked on charges of harbouring him.
According to Chitrendra Singh Solanki, First Additional Sessions Judge at Rajgarh district, there were significant inconsistencies in the testimonies of the woman and her husband.
“The victim’s presence at the accused Shafiq Ansari’s house at the relevant time is itself doubtful. The claim of the accused establishing sexual relations with the victim is not corroborated by medical or scientific evidence. The victim has not provided any satisfactory reason for delaying informing her husband about the incident or for the delay in filing the report,” read the court judgment.
The court found that the woman made the allegations because her home had been demolished based on Ansari’s complaint.
The court held that Ansari was a ward councillor, and the “municipality demolished her (the woman’s) house at the behest of Ansari and the residents of the locality.”
Municipal authorities had demolished the woman’s house over encroachment after her neighbours complained against her, alleging that illegal trade of narcotic substances was “being conducted in that house.”
