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Delay in filing of FIRs by rape victims is only normal: court

As the honour of the family is involved, its members have to decide whether to take the matter to the court or not. Thus, a delay is bound to occur: Judge RG Wankhede

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A session’s court, while passing its orders in a rape case, held that delays caused in the registering of an FIR is normal in any rape case. The court held that the main reason for such delays is the family’s honour. The court convicted a 35-year-old accused for raping a minor and sentenced him to seven years of imprisonment. The court also levied a fine of Rs 25,000 under various sections. In its order, the court has maintained that of the penalty amount, Rs 20,000 should be given to the victim as a compensatory amount.

The court presided, over by judge RG Wankhede, held, “It has been observed that as far as a delay in lodging an FIR in a rape cases is concerned, no straight-jacket formula can be laid down in this regard. In case of sexual offences, the criteria may be different altogether. It has been further observed that as the honour of the family is involved, its members have to decide whether to take the matter to the court or not, and thus a delay is bound to occur. Ordinarily, the family of the victim would not intend to get any stigma attached to the victim. A delay in lodging the FIR in a case of this nature is a normal phenomenon.”

Additional public prosecutor Iqbal Solkar, while explaining the case, said that the accused, Agarajit Shah, who is a relative of the victim, was staying at her house for some time in the year. The accused had asked the victim’s mother to arrange for accommodation for him. The accused raped the child in the interim period on the pretext of applying an ointment on her. He then threatened the victim not to spill the beans. However, the child’s tuition teacher noticed a change change in her behaviour, and she informed the victim’s mother about it.

The child then narrated the incident to her mother. When the mother reprimanded the accused, he threatened her saying that his father was the mukhiya of their village and she thus cannot harm him in any way.

Further, at  a programme held to spread awareness against assaults on women, when the mother spoke about the incident to a social worker, the latter, in turn, approached the Powai police station and lodged a complaint.

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