MUMBAI, Jan. 16 -- The Bombay high court has cleared a 26-year-old man of rape after noting that the 11-year-old survivor's statement that the accused "attempted to make forcible physical relations with her" had come as a reply to a leading question put to her by the prosecutor during her testimony. A single-judge bench of justice Rajnish Vyas acquitted Sagar Sable, a Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar resident, observing that such a statement cannot be accepted as valid evidence to prove rape. The court, however, upheld Sable's conviction for kidnapping and sexual harassment, noting that there was enough evidence available to prove that the accused had enticed the 11-year-old girl from the lawful custody of her parents and disrobed her in his house. Sable, a labourer, was arrested by the police in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar on October 14, 2021, three days after he allegedly enticed the 11-year-old girl away from her home and took her to his house, where he allegedly raped her. He was accordingly booked under sections 363 (kidnapping), 376-AB (raping a child under 12 years of age), and 354-A (2) (sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 4 (2) (penetrative sexual assault on a child below sixteen years of age) and 8 (sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. In December 2023, a special POCSO court convicted him of all charges and sentenced him to 20 years rigorous imprisonment for rape and penetrative sexual assault, and three years for sexual harassment. Sable challenged his conviction and sentencing in the high court. After hearing both sides, the high court accepted Sable's argument that the crucial part of the survivor's statement came as an answer to a leading question from the prosecutor. As a result, the statement could not be accepted as a valid piece of evidence, and the prosecution could not prove the rape charge beyond reasonable doubt. Justice Vyas also took into consideration that there was no medical evidence suggesting rape or penetrative sexual assault on the child....