Common Judgment: (Kemal Pasha, J.)

Facts are stranger than fiction. Gone are the days of men rising to the occasion as heroes or warriors to save fellow human beings from danger. The lethargic lukewarm attitude, the insensitivity to respond, and selfishness to be non-responsive from the part of the fellow passengers of a running train to extend a helping hand, to lift a girl from danger, has resulted in a grave tragedy as the one in this case. How cruel is the attitude of a section of the community, who even dissuade willing persons to respond to such cries for help? It is all the more tragic and pitiable to note the lukewarm attitude of the Indian Railways towards the safety and security of women passengers.

2. The factual matrix depicts severe sexual assault, robbery, and murder of a poor girl of 23, who had to travel by the ladies compartment of a passenger train, with the sweet dreams of her proposed marriage alliance. The girl, who wanted to have a safe journey, unfortunately opted for the ladies compartment, which ultimately turned out to be her graveyard. The girl became lonely for her continued journey to the destination for just about 10 minutes, became virtually trapped in it. A dare criminal, who is a monstrous creature in the form of a sex perverted assailant, barged in to the compartment, and pounced upon her in order to satisfy his lust and also for robbery. She was attacked, overpowered, assaulted, and the dangs dived.

3. As per the directives of the Apex Court, in all rape trials, anonymity of the victim must be maintained as far as necessary. Therefore, we refer the victim girl in this case as 'the deceased' or 'deceased girl' or 'the girl' or 'the victim', in accordance with the context.

4. Deceased girl, aged 23, hailing from a poor family at Shornur got a small job at an institution named `Homestyle Interiors (Pvt) Ltd.' functioning at the Oberon Mall, Edappally, Ernakulam. She and her family consisting of her younger brother and their mother were eking their livelihood from the monthly salary of 6000/- being earned by her. Once in a while, during holidays, she used to go to her house at Shornur by the Ernakulam - Shornur passenger train, which leaves Ernakulam by 5.30 p.m.

5. During the course of her employment, she got acquainted with PW76, a 24-year-old young man employed at Ernakulam, who is the friend of some of her co-workers. They liked each other and he proposed her. Both the families also concurred to have such an alliance and thereby they decided to conduct a ceremony for fixing their betrothal at the house of the deceased on 2.2.2011. PW76 along with his family members were scheduled to visit the house on that day, and therefore, the presence of the deceased was also required there.

6. The deceased bordered the ladies division in the last compartment of the Ernakulam-Shornur Passenger Train, which started at 5.30 p.m. on 1.2.2011, to Shornur, with Ext.P25 ticket, from the Ernakulam Town North Railway Station. PW3 Rejula, her daughter, her mother and her granddaughter were also present in that ladies division along with the deceased. The deceased got friendly with them within a short time. When the train reached Thrissur, most of the passengers in that ladies division got down. Another lady also who was present in that ladies division got down when the train reached Wadakkanchery. There, PW3 got down at the platform, purchased milk for the child from the Milma booth there, and got back to the compartment. At that time, she could notice the hungry look stared at her by the accused, who was standing outside the compartment and by peeping through the window. When the train reached Mulloorkara, PW3 and her family also got down there. As there was nobody else in the ladies division of that compartment, the deceased also got down along with them and hurriedly made an entry into the ladies coach attached just in front of that last compartment. The train reached Vallathol Nagar Railway Station, where