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Gujarat high court rejects Mehsana girl’s rape plea

The girl had lodged a complaint before the police that the boy had raped her and made a video clip of when they were in a compromising position.

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In a significant judgment, justice Akil Kureshi of Gujarat high court has upheld a lower court verdict that acquitted a boy from charges of rape and intimidation on the grounds that the boy had not engaged in ‘forcible intercourse’ with the girl while they were enjoying a relationship with each other.

The high court was hearing an appeal regarding a criminal case lodged by a girl based in Mehsana. The girl had lodged a complaint before the police that the boy had raped her and made a video clip of when they were in a compromising position.

However, after hearing the case, the local court acquitted the boy on finding no evidence against him of forcible intercourse with the girl.

By rejecting the appeal moved by the girl, justice Kureshi observed: “Upon perusal of the judgment under consideration, it can be seen that the judge (lower court) had taken into account the evidence produced by the prosecution but came to the conclusion that the prosecutrix (girl) was a ‘consenting partner.”

Quoting the lower court judgment, the high court said, “The judge noted that from March 2009 to April 24, 2009, no force or coercion was used nor was the girl enticed in any manner.”  Even when the accused approached her with an offer of friendship and allegedly harassed her for the said purpose, the girl didn’t inform any of her relatives about the alleged incident. The judge found it unusual that the girl did not take into confidence any of her relatives or women friends or even her mother if she was being harassed and pressured by the accused for friendship, the court said.

Giving reference of the testimony given by the girl, the high court said, during April 24-28, 2009, the accused used to call her repeatedly on the phone and threatened to commit suicide if she did not maintain relations with him. She herself had gone on her Activa vehicle to meet the accused at Torrent Hotel.

The two had stayed there in a special room on a fake name. Though she alleged that the incident was video recorded, in the cross-examination she stated that she stayed with the accused for  two hours after the incident.     

She did not object while being taken to the first floor. She also did not shout for help or bang the door. She was not forced to go to the hotel but went there voluntarily.

Regarding the video-recording in an intimate position, the HC said, “The judge further found that the record of Torrent Hotel did not support the version of the accused and the girl having stayed there any time from April 24 to 28, 2009. Except for her statement on this issue, there was no corroborative evidence. Allegation of video-recording of her intimate positions was therefore not believed. No scientific evidence was produced to show that video-recording was deleted though previously recorded. The judge, therefore, found that the version of the prosecutor having been taken to Torrent Hotel by the accused and having video-recorded her in obscene position was not proved beyond reasonable doubt.”

The high court said, “Subsequent evidence of physical relations between the prosecutrix and the accused on the premise that she submitted to his demand on account of his having video-recorded her in obscene position was not believed. The judge found that, in the cross-examination, the girl admitted that on June 28, 2009 when she had gone to meet the accused, she had told her family members that she was going to meet her woman friend. She had accompanied the accused on his motorcycle. The two also travelled for 4-5 km. Though she was taken to an isolated field, she admitted that she did not shout for help.

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