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The 43-year-old man from Lalitpur, who was wrongly convicted in the rape case, has now been acquitted by the Allahabad High Court after serving a 20-year jail sentence.
After being convicted for rape under the SC / ST Act, this man was lodged in a jail in Agra for many years. During this time his parents and two brothers also died, but he was not even allowed to attend his funeral. On Wednesday, a bench of the High Court acquitted him of the charges.
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According to reports, a Dalit woman from Lalitpur district accused Vishnu Tiwari of raping her in September 2000. At that time Vishnu was 23 years old. Police had registered a case against Vishnu Tiwari under Section 376, 506 of IPC and Section 3 (1) (7), 3 (2) (5) of SC / SC Act.
The case was investigated by the then Narhat Circle Officer Akhilesh Narayan Singh and after this the sessions court sentenced Vishnu to life imprisonment.
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Vishnu was then shifted to Agra Jail where he has been lodged for so many years. In 2005, Vishnu appealed against this decision in the High Court but the case could not be heard for 16 years.
Later, the State Legal Services Authority appointed advocate Shweta Singh Rana as his defense counsel.
On 28 January, the High Court Justice Kaushal Jayendra Thakar and Justice Gautam Chaudhary said in their order, "Looking at the facts and evidence, we believe that the accused was wrongly convicted, therefore reversing the trial court's decision, the accused Has been acquitted."
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Vishnu's nephew Satyendra told reporters, "My wrongful conviction of my uncle like this broke our entire family financially and socially. I lost my father, uncle and grandparents due to shock and social stigma In fighting this case, the family had to sell a large part of the land. My uncle had to spend the best years of his life in jail without a mistake. His entire life was ruined."
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