Victim Accompanying Accused Without Raising Alarm, No Injuries Suggest Consensual Relationship: Punjab & Haryana HC
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has acquitted a man previously convicted of aggravated sexual penetrative assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), finding that the relationship between the prosecutrix and the accused appeared to be "entirely consensual." The Court noted that the prosecutrix had willingly accompanied the accused as a pillion rider on his motorcycle in a crowded area without raising any alarm.
The division bench, comprising Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Kuldeep Tiwari, further observed that "there were no internal or external injury marks on any part of the body of the prosecutrix." The judgment stated, "Since she had occupied the pillion of the motorcycle driven at the relevant time by the accused, thereupon when the motorcycle traversed through crowded places, yet even if she was purportedly coerced to occupy the pillion of the motorcycle, rather with the prosecutrix omitting to through raising shrieks and cries, thus invite the attention of the passerby."
Based on these observations, the bench inferred that "the prosecutrix had voluntarily joined the company of the accused, besides reiteratedly when there are no internal or external injury marks on any part of the body of the prosecutrix, therebys the incident, if any, which occurred amongst the victim and the accused, thus was entirely consensual."
The case involved charges under Section 6 of POCSO (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) and Sections 363 and 366 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The accused had been sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment under POCSO, along with 7 and 10 years of imprisonment under IPC provisions. The prosecution claimed that the alleged victim, a minor at the time, had been raped by the accused under the false pretense of marriage.
However, after reviewing the evidence and records, the Court concluded that the victim’s age was "doubtful," and thus it could not be definitively established that she was a minor and incapable of giving consent. The bench noted discrepancies in the prosecution's evidence, particularly regarding the school records of the victim. The principal of the school testified that the register entries regarding the victim’s age were based on a report prepared by the village chowkidar, which the principal had not personally verified.
The Court emphasized that since the chowkidar’s report was unverified, the records were unreliable, and it could not be conclusively proven that the victim was a minor at the time of the incident. Furthermore, the medical report indicated that "the victim was used to sexual intercourse" and that the vaginal sample collected from her did not match the DNA of the accused. Taking these findings into account, the Court held that "benefit of doubt is assigned to the accused." Consequently, it set aside the conviction order and acquitted the accused.
Case Title: Simranjit Singh @ Simar v/s State of Punjab
Date: November-28-2024
Coram: JUSTICE SURESHWAR THAKUR, JUSTICE KULDEEP TIWAR
[Read/Download order here]
