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2006 Supreme(Cal) 484
High Court Of Calcutta
Amit Talukdar, Sankar Prasad Mitra
UDAY NARAYAN JANA - Appellant
Versus
STATE OF WEST BENGAL - Respondent
C. R. A. 283 Of 1988
Decided On : 08/07/2006
The evidence of a victim of sexual assault is sufficient to prove the charges against the accused, even in the absence of corroborating evidence.
Headnote:
CRIMINAL APPEAL - RAPE - EVIDENCE - MINORS - SECTION 376, 366, 363, 365 OF IPC - RAPE OF A MINOR - CONVICTION AND SENTENCE - APPEAL - EVIDENCE OF VICTIM - CORROBORATION - MEDICAL EVIDENCE - IDENTIFICATION OF ACCUSED - SECTION 114A OF EVIDENCE ACT - SECTION 156(3) OF CRPC - RIGHT OF DE FACTO COMPLAINANT TO BE HEARD IN APPEAL.
Fact of the Case:
The victim, a minor girl, was kidnapped and raped by the appellants and others. She was kept in confinement for over a year and subjected to repeated sexual assaults. After she escaped, she reported the incident to the police and the appellants were arrested.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt. The victim's testimony was found to be credible and reliable, and was corroborated by the medical evidence and the evidence of other witnesses. The court also rejected the appellants' arguments that the victim had consented to the sexual acts or that she had been falsely implicated.
Issues: 1. Whether the evidence of the victim was sufficient to prove the charges against the appellants. 2. Whether the medical evidence corroborated the victim's testimony. 3. Whether the appellants' arguments that the victim had consented to the sexual acts or that she had been falsely implicated were credible.
Ratio Decidendi: 1. The court held that the victim's testimony was credible and reliable, and was corroborated by the medical evidence and the evidence of other witnesses. The court also rejected the appellants' arguments that the victim had consented to the sexual acts or that she had been falsely implicated. 2. The court held that the medical evidence corroborated the victim's testimony. The medical examination of the victim revealed that she had been subjected to repeated sexual assaults. 3. The court held that the appellants' arguments that the victim had consented to the sexual acts or that she had been falsely implicated were not credible. The court found that the victim's testimony was consistent and unwavering, and that there was no evidence to support the appellants' claims.
Final Decision: The court dismissed the appeals and upheld the convictions and sentences of the appellants.
( 1 ) THE Victim Girl P. W. 2 who was a Minor resided at Atilaguri with her parents. Misfortune stuck her on the fateful day when she went out of her house. P. W. 2 in the evening of 2/6/1985 went to collect the dues from the various shops towards the supply of milk and curd supplied by her father P. W. 1 and also for doing some marketing. Since her father P. W. 1 was unwell she was entrusted with the said job, on that particular day and her mother (not examined) was also away from home.
( 2 ) WHILE she was proceeding towards the market after completing her collection, she came across the Appellant Mantu (Criminal Appeal No. 283/1988 ). She was given a betel by him and after consuming the same, she felt uneasy and was not in a position to talk. She was taken in a Risckshaw and thereafter by a bus to Digha.
( 3 ) WHERE she was kept in a room by Appellant Mantu. Appellant Mantu gave her a tablet when she had asked for water. For four days he stayed with P. W. 2 and violated her and bit her breast. After he left accused Bapi and Appellant Uday (in Criminal Appeal No. 280/1989) also forcibly ravished her for two days continuously. Thereafter Appellant Mantu again came and gave some tablets to her. It is after she was administered with such tablets she lost her power of speech.
( 4 ) BOTH Appellants along with accused Bapi on the false plea of taking her home, boarded a bus and came to Contai. She was lodged in a house situated before a Radhakrishna Temple. She was kept in a room of the said house. She remembered that the house belonged to a person having some distinguishable features.
( 5 ) FROM hell to hell. She was put on a taxi and both the Appellants along with Accused Bapi brought her to Calcutta and was taken in a small room with a "dirty bed'. Appellant Mantu stayed in that room for 4/5 days and raped her and when she opposed she was assaulted. Thereafter he kept her in the hands of Accused Bapi and Appellant Uday where at least 4/5 persons used to visit the room in the night in quick succession of each other. Before each person was allowed entry she was given a tablet by accused Bapi and Appellant Uday. She stayed there for about 1 and 1/2 years under confinement. Both the Appellants including Accused Bapi left after some days. After about 1 and 1/2 years Accused Bapi and Appellant Uday came and she was transferred to the house of one "hindustani person" where she was engaged as a maid servant. She worked there for 2/3 months.
( 6 ) ONE day discovering that the gate of the house was open she made good her escape. She trudged on foot and came to a Railway Station where she boarded a train and ultimately reached the terminus of the said train, which on enquiry she come to know was Krishnanagore Station.
( 7 ) AFTER proceeding for a certain distance she took refuge under a banian Tree and was weeping. An elderly person come to her rescue and took her to his house where she was entrusted with the job of doing "thakurseva". Here she was told by the said elderly person that he has given a letter to her father (P. W. 1), she resided there for 2/3 months.
( 8 ) ONE night while she was weeping an old woman came to her and wanted to know whether she intended to go back to her parents. She followed her and boarded a train and reached a place after crossing a bridge from where she took the Digha bound Bus and reached at Contai.
( 9 ) P. W. 1 the father of the victim Girl (P. W. 2) after finding that she did not returned on the fateful day (2/6/1985) he searched for her and after a few days lodged the General Diary (Ext. 4) on 14/6/1985 which was proved by p. W. 8. On 21/6/1985 on the basis of the complaint (Ext. 2) lodged by the P. W. 1, P. W. 8 registered Contai P. S. Case No. 8. Initially the case was registered against the appellant Mantu and others however, after completion of investigation P. W. 9 submitted chargesheet against both the Appellants. It is pertinent to state that P. W. 1 also took one Peti
