HC sets aside conviction in rape case

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has set aside the conviction of an accused in a rape case, holding that the trial court had relied on "rickety, and fragile" evidence without considering "vital infirmities in the prosecution case. Allowing a criminal appeal from the accused who was sentenced to seven-year rigorous imprisonment in 2004 on the charge of raping a 14-year-old mentally challenged girl, Justice A Selvam said the women's trial court eschewed all these infirmities.
 
"It is highly impossible to come to a conclusion that the accused had committed such a serious offence. The accused was arrested for allegedly raping the girl while she was grazing cattle at Kannangudi village in Tiruchirappali District on August 10, 2002. He was convicted and sentenced in June 2004.
      
Justice Selvan said police had initially registered an FIR on Aug 14, 2002 claiming that the accused had intimidated the victim's father the previous day. The FIR was altered two days later following the complainant's belated statement that his daughter was raped. He also pointed out that a woman doctor who examined the victim on Aug 20,2002, had reported that there were no traces of sperm though the smear can be found within ten days of the incident. The evidence of the doctor had also not supported the version of the prosecution.
       
Yet another infirmity was that the victim herself had admitted that she answered all the questions posed to her by the trial court on the basis of instructions given by her parents and the police, the judge observed and quashed the conviction.