House owner's testimony helped nail rape accused

HYDERABAD: On multiple occasions during the trial, the 25-year-old youth from Chatrinaka tried to give an impression that he was innocent and that the girl, whom he raped in Dec 2019, had filed a false case against him.
The girl was his sister’s close friend. The youth, who was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for the rest of his life by the court on Sept 6, also claimed that the house owner, who was one of the key witnesses in the case, was hearing impaired.
The youth’s mother even quarrelled with the owner of the house where the girl and her mother were staying on rent in Chatrinaka and forced them to vacate the house.
Though the girl died without appearing for the trial because of health complications, crucial evidence given by the house owner nailed the youth’s heinous crime. The girl, after being raped by the accused, rushed home and told her mother, house owner and other tenants about her ordeal.
During the trial, the house owner gave a graphic account of the events that unfolded on the day of the crime to the court. The accused’s counsel claimed that the house owner was deaf and could not have heard what the girl or her mother told them.
In the court hall, while giving her evidence, the house owner answered the questions posed to her. “So it was clear that she was not having a great hearing problem,” said the court.
The accused also claimed that the girl died by suicide because the person she married was convicted by the court in a case. “But to establish this fact, the accused has not adduced evidence,” pointed out the court.
The accused also claimed that no DNA samples were collected from the girl. The accused contended that he was implicated in a false case in a routine manner, but the evidence clearly established that the girl was subjected to a heinous sexual assault, concluded the court.