'Victim's testimony not sufficient'; Punjab & Haryana HC acquits gang rape accused

The Punjab & Haryana High Court on Saturday acquitted two men, accused of gang-rape, due to a lack of corroborating evidence.
According to Live Law, the division bench of Justices Sureshwar Thakur and Lali Batra held that it was "unsafe for the court to rely upon the solitary testimony of victim without any corroboration..".

"Testimony of victim is not sufficient to prove the accusation and demands corroboration from an independent source which is not available," Live Law quoted the Court as saying.

The Court held that the prosecution failed to prove the allegations against the men against whom an FIR was registered in Panipat in 2020.

The survivor had moved the High Court challenging a trial court verdict that acquitted the men. The prosecution argued that the accused had threatened to kill the survivor. According to the prosecution, the police made the survivor and her husband sign on a blank paper and put pressure on them to compromise the matter.