IMPORTANT POINT
In a case of rape, conviction can be sustained basing on solitary testimony of prosecutrix – No undue leniency can be shown towards accused.

JUDGMENT

The judgment, dated 14.12.2010, in Sessions Case No.78 of 2009 on the file of Sessions Judge, Mahila Court, Vijayawada (for short, ‘the learned Sessions Judge’), is under challenge in the present Appeal filed by the appellant, who was the unsuccessful accused in the aforesaid Sessions Case.

2. The parties to this Criminal Appeal will hereinafter be referred to as described before the trial Court, for the sake of convenience.

3. Sessions Case No.78 of 2009 arose out of the committal order in Preliminary Registered Case (PRC) No.24 of 2008 on the file of the Court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Vijayawada (for short, ‘the learned Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’) pertaining to Crime No.647 of 2007 of Law and Order Police Station, Vijayawada for the offence under Section 376 (2)(f) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (for short, ‘the IPC’).

4. The case of the prosecution, in brief, according to the charge sheet filed by the State, represented by the Inspector of Police, I Town Police Station, Vijayawada City is as follows:—

(i) The accused is a resident of Gollapudi, Vijayawada. He is an Auto Driver. LW.1 – Vallepu Janaki is the de-facto complainant. She is also resident of Gollapudi. Her husband, LW.3 – Vallepu Guravaiah is also an Auto Driver. LW.2 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the victim’), aged 12 years, is the daughter of LW.1 and LW.3. She is studying 5th class. Accused is the younger brother of LW.3, father of the victim. LW.1 used to do servant maid works at some houses and used to leave the house early in the morning and return at about 11:00 or 11:30 a.m. Likewise LW.3, father of the victim, also used to go out in the morning with his Auto and return to the house during nights.

(ii) On 18.11.2007, when the parents of the victim went out on their works, the victim (LW.2) and her brother – Vallepu Ravi Kumar (LW.4) and her cousin brother – Vallepu Malleswara Rao (LW.5) were present in the house. Then, at about 10:30 a.m., accused, who is no other than her junior paternal uncle, came to the house of the victim, when she was eating curd rice. He gave Rs.1/- each to LW.4 and LW.5 and sent them out saying to get some eatables. He took the victim to his house. His wife was also not present in the house. He laid the victim on the iron tubular cot in his house, removed her pant (bottom of Punjabi dress) and underwear, overpowered her and inserted his penis into her vagina forcibly. She got much pain at her vagina and also resisted him asking innocently as to ‘Babayi, what is this’ and thereby the accused committed rape on her inhumanely. She got heavy bleeding from her vagina and became unconscious. On seeing this, the accused got confusion. He called LW.6 – Pasupuleti Manikyam to his house and asked her to see the victim saying that she might have got menses for the second time. He also sent a word to LW.7 – Jada Ramana through LW.4 – Vallepu Ravi Kumar to come to his house and see the victim. He immediately went away from there. Meanwhile, at about 11:30 a.m., LW.1 came to her house and found her daughter missing from the house. On search, she noticed her daughter in a pool of blood, unconsciously on the cot in the house of the accused. Then, LW.6 and LW.7 also came there and noticed the victim but they did not suspect any bad on the part of the accused because he is the junior paternal uncle of the victim. LW.1 and LW.6 immediately shifted the injured to the nearby private hospital where the doctor advised them to take her to Government General Hospital (GGH), Vijayawada as her condition is very serious. Immediately, they shifted the victim to GGH, Vijayawada, where LW.18 - Dr. N. Durga Srilakshmi, Woman Medical Officer, on examination, declared that she was raped brutally. Then only LW.1 and LW.6 came to know about the offence committed by the accused. LW.6 informed the same over phone to LW.8 – Namburi Hemantha Rao, who in turn informed the incident to all in the locality. Then, LW.3 – father of the victim went to the