Madhya Pradesh High Court lowers punishment of rape convict as victim's life was spared

The Madhya Pradesh High Court recently brought down a rape convict's sentence from life imprisonment to 20 years after ruling that the 4-year-old victim was not killed after she was sexually assaulted.

The Indore Bench of Justices Subodh Abhyankar and SK Singh noted that there was no error in the trial court's evaluation of the evidence and that, given the heinousness of the crime, it was inappropriate to reduce the sentence to already served. However, because the victim was left alive, the life sentence was reduced to a rigorous 20-year sentence of imprisonment.

"In such circumstances, this court does not find any error in the appreciation of evidence by the trial court and considering the demonic act of the appellant, who appears to have no respect for the dignity of a woman and has the propensity to commit sexual offences even with a girl child aged four years, this court does not find it to be a fit case where the sentence can be reduced to the sentence already undergone by him," the court said, India Today reported.

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The accused in this case disputed his conviction through the current appeal after being found guilty under IPC section 376(2)(F) of raping a minor. The appellant claimed before the court that the prosecution had wrongfully implicated him in the case and noted that the FSL (Forensic Science Laboratory) Report had not been placed in the record. It was further contended that a life sentence was not appropriate in this case.

The state, on the other hand, claimed that the accused was not entitled to any mercy and that the appeal should be rejected. The bench concluded that the petitioner was lawfully convicted after hearing the arguments.

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According to the court, even though the absence of the FSL report demonstrates heinous misconduct on the part of the prosecution, its mere absence does not prevent the court from evaluating the other material that has been submitted. The court acknowledged that there are eyewitnesses in the case, and that the medical evidence supports those witnesses.

Due to the appellant's decision to leave the victim alive, the court lowered the appellant's life sentence to 20 years in prison. The court upheld the appellant's conviction based on the observations and other evidence. 

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