A special court in Kanpur has acquitted an Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel who was accused of molesting his minor sister-in-law after the complainant told that the alleged incident had occurred in a dream and the alarm she raised was due to a misunderstanding.
The case was registered at Naubasta Police Station on August 3, 2019, based on a complaint filed by a 15-year-old girl.
She had alleged that her brother-in-law, Anurag Shukla, molested her earlier that year while she was asleep.
According to the FIR, the alleged incident took place on the night of March 8, 2019, when the girl was staying at her sister’s house in Khadepur.
During the trial, however, the complainant told the court that she had been on antibiotics and was in a semi-conscious state that night.
She said she had "felt in a dream" that Shukla had grabbed and molested her, after which she woke up frightened and raised an alarm.
Her father, Vijay Tiwari, and elder sister, Shivani Tiwari — who is married to Shukla — also told the court that the complaint had been filed due to a misunderstanding.
Shukla said he was arrested on September 29, 2019, and spent 19 days in jail before being granted bail on October 17 that year.
Taking note of her testimony and the statements of family members acknowledging the misunderstanding, the special court presided over by Judge Rashmi Singh acquitted Shukla of all charges on March 7 2026, holding that the prosecution had failed to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Author: Saikat Bhattacharya
