Rape of minor girl, SC raps Delhi HC

By Our Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI, DEC.1. The Supreme Court has rapped the Delhi High Court for acquitting two "sex maniacs" who "libidinously ravaged a tiny female tot (four years old) like wild beasts and finished her off".

Setting aside the High Court judgment, a Bench comprising Mr. Justice K.T. Thomas and Mr. Justice R.P. Sethi found the two accused guilty of the rape charge and awarded life imprisonment to them.

The Bench was of the view that the trial court had come to the correct conclusion that the two respondents were the rapists and awarded death penalty to one of them and sentenced the other to life imprisonment.

"The High Court has grossly erred in interfering with such a correct conclusion made by the trial court as the reasons adopted by the High court for such interference are very tenuous", the Bench said.

The Bench restored the trial court's conviction to the extent of awarding the maximum punishment of life imprisonment to both the respondents for offences under Sections 376 and 377 read with Sec. 34 of IPC.

Referring to the findings of the High court that the version of the police could not be true, the Bench observed "we feel that it is an archaic notion that actions of the police officer should be approached with initial distrust. We are aware that such a notion was lavishly entertained during the British period and policemen also knew about it. Its hang over persisted during post- Independent years but it is time now to start placing at least initial trust on the actions and the documents made by the police".

The Bench was of the view that "it is not legally approvable procedure to presume the police action as unreliable to start with, nor to jettison such action merely for the reason that police did not collect signatures of independent persons in the documents made contemporaneous with such actions".

The case of the prosecution was that on September 5, 1992, the two accused took away the child from the mother and after raping the girl, killed her. While the trial court awarded death sentence to one and life imprisonment to the other, on appeal, the High Court acquitted both of them. Against this the National Capital Territory of Delhi government preferred the present appeals to the Apex Court.

Disposing of the appeal, the Bench said from the woeful and eerie features described by the doctor, no court could possibly escape from the conclusion that the little child was violently molested, ravished, raped and sodomised. Though the sessions court had acted on the medical report as reliable, it was unfortunate that the High court expressed misgivings about it, the Bench said and set aside the High Court's order.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Other States
Previous : Wings clipped, the don still a terror
Next     : No caning of schoolchildren