Travel firm owner acquitted 14 months after being booked for rape

Almost 14 months after a 24-year-old girl had allegedly attempted to die by suicide by consuming phenyl tablets and wrote a three-page suicide note accusing Sukhchain Singh Rahi, owner of RS Global Immigration, of raping her, the accused stands acquitted.

The court of Additional Sessions Judge Rajni Chhokra pronounced the acquittal on Saturday after the complainant had retracted from all her statements. The accused walked free after the girl told the court that the police had put pressure on her to give the statement against him before a magistrate. Senior advocate Mandeep Singh Sachdev confirmed the acquittal. His assistant, advocate Vivek Kumar, had appeared for the victim in the case.

The police had in September 2024 arrested Rahi under Section 64 of the BNS at Navi Baradari police station. The victim had then reported that she was aspiring to move to Singapore or a European country and had said in her complaint that she had contacted Rahi after watching his video on YouTube. She had told the police that she had received a message from from him regarding a seminar at a hotel. The girl had alleged that when she went to the hotel, she was sent to a room booked by his immigration company. She was assured by the complainant that more participants would be joining shortly, and was offered a soft drink.

The girl alleged that she lost consciousness after consuming a cold drink, only to later realise that she had been sexually assaulted. The court relied on the fresh statement of the girl wherein she backtracked on every previous statement made by her to the police. The court also relied on the statement of the General Manager (GM) of the hotel in which he had stated that the girl had given her Aadhaar card at the reception for entry into an already booked room. The GM also stated that when the girl came out of the room, she was normal. "There was no order of liquor in the room. Both had walked out together towards the main gate and left in the same car.: the GM stated in the court.