CaseTitle:
Sasi Vs. State of Kerala
Date:
3rd June, 2020
Bench:
Justice P.B Suresh Kumar
Parties:
Appellant – Sasi
Respondent – State of Kerala
Subject
An appeal was filed by the appellant against the conviction and sentence imposed on him punishable under the POCSO Act.
Important Provisions
Section 450 of the IPC – House-trespass in order to commit an offense punishable with imprisonment for life.
Section 376 of the IPC – Punishment for rape.
Section 511 of the IPC – Punishment for attempting to commit offenses punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment.
Section 6 of the POCSO Act – Punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault.
Overview
- On 03/02/2013 at about 9:30 pm the accused trespassed into the house where the victim girl was residing and committed rape and penetrative sexual assault.
- The accused was the partner of the younger sister of the mother of the victim girl.
- The accused had trespassed into the house of the grandmother of the victim girl.
- The accused had committed the offenses punishable under Sections 450 and 376 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 6 of the POCSO Act.
- It was also stated that the accused had dragged the victim girl on 04/02/2013 and committed rape and penetrative sexual assault on her again.
- The prosecution examined 14 witnesses and proved 19 documents.
- The accused was questioned with respect to Section 313 of the CPC.
- The accused denied the allegations and maintained that he was innocent.
- The Court found that the prosecution had established the guilt of the accused under Section 376 of the IPC and Section 6 of the POCSO Act.
- The accused was convicted and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 10 years and a fine amount of Rs. 10,000/-.
- The accused was aggrieved by the conviction and hence the present appeal was filed.
Issues raised
- Whether without the determination of the age of the victim a person can be convicted for an offense under the POCSO Act?
To learn more about forensics in POCSO matters, Click Here.
Advancements made by the Appellant
- The learned counsel for the appellant argued that the prosecution was obliged to prove the age of the victim.
- The conviction of the accused under the POCSO Act without proving the age of the victim was ‘bad in law’.
- The evidence provided by the victim girl was not corroborated by the remaining witnesses in any manner.
- The tear of the hymen of the victim girl was taken as evidence. But the victim girl had already admitted that she was subjected to sexual assault by others earlier and thereby the tear could be an old one.
- The evidence was not corroborated and thereby could not form the sole basis of the conviction.
- The clothes worn by the victim girl and the accused at the time of the alleged occurrences were not found with semen and spermatozoa.
- It was alleged that the victim girl cried out and the people in the locality assembled, but the complaint was lodged to the police only on the subsequent day. The delay in lodging of complaint created a serious doubt about the genuineness of the prosecution case.
Advancements made by the Respondent
- The learned counsel for the respondent argued that the victim girl falls under the category of ‘sterling witnesses’ thereby the accused can be convicted solely based on the evidence deduced from the victim girl without it being corroborated by the other evidence.
- The evidence provided by the victim girl was natural, reliable, and truthful.
- Judgment Analysis
- The Court observed that since the victim girl did not go to any school, no evidence could be collected to determine her age. No steps were taken scientifically to determine the age of the victim girl.
- Since this case was under POCSO Act, the victim girl involved was a child had to be proved. Due to the absence of evidence to prove so, the prosecution had not established the guilt of the accused under Section 6 of the POCSO Act.
- The mere tear of the hymen of the victim girl cannot corroborate the evidence provided by the victim girl as the victim girl was subjected to sexual assault earlier too. It was also found that the tear in the hymen was old. Thereby the evidence provided by the victim girl cannot be corroborated by the medical evidence provided.
- The Court relied upon the case of Rai Sandeep Vs. NCT of Delhi, (2012) 8 SCC 21 and stated that a ‘sterling witness’ was one who created no room for doubt. Here in this case the victim girl had stated two different versions of the same scenario thereby creating a genuine doubt as to the correctness of the information provided.
Conclusion
The Court concluded by modifying the impugned judgment and stating that the accused was liable to be punished under Section 511 read with Section 376(1) of the IPC. He was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for three and a half years and pay a fine of Rs. 10,000/-.
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