UP: Barabanki Woman Gets 7.5 Year Prison Term For Filing False Gangrape Case To Take Revenge

A special Lucknow court has found a woman named Rekha Devi guilty of filing a fake gang rape case under the SC/ST Act to settle personal scores. She has been sentenced to seven and a half years in prison and fined Rs 2,01,000.

Vivekanand Sharan Tripathi, the special judge under the SC/ST Act, ordered that the fine amount be distributed equally between the accused, Rajesh, and the heirs of the other accused, Bhupendra (who died during legal proceedings). A copy of the order has been sent to the District Magistrates of Lucknow and Barabanki.

The order stated that if Rekha had received any compensation for registering the case, it should be recovered immediately. The court noted that when a report is filed, the complainant immediately receives a fixed amount from the government as relief. The DM was directed to ensure that, henceforth, victims should only be given relief funds once the police file a chargesheet against the accused in a case. The amount should not be disbursed merely upon the registration of a report. This measure will help curb the tendency to file false cases.

Earlier, the special prosecutor of the SC/ST Act informed the court that Rekha Devi of Zaidpur, Barabanki, had lodged a report at Zaidpur Police Station on 29 June 2021, accusing Rajesh and Bhupendra of threatening her life and property and committing gang rape. Since the incident fell under the jurisdiction of BKT Police Station, the investigation was transferred there in Lucknow.

During the investigation, it was found that the complainant belonged to the Scheduled Caste. The Circle Officer (CO) discovered that she had filed a false case to frame the accused. Based on this, the investigating officer submitted a final report, giving the accused a clean chit, and requested the court to take action against Rekha.

According to a Times of India report, the woman was in a consensual relationship with one of the accused. She filed a case after the relationship ended on a bitter note.

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