KOCHI: A mere statement by a victim in her testimony that “the accused hugged and impregnated her” without any indication about penetration is insufficient to attract the offence of rape, the Kerala High Court has observed.
The court also held that a vague statement would not be a substitute for the statutory mandate. Justice Kauser Edappagath issued the order while allowing an appeal filed by Ranjith, a convict in a rape case, seeking to quash the trial court’s order awarding seven years’ imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000.
The HC found that the petitioner is not guilty of the offence charged against him, and was accordingly acquitted.
“There is no cogent and reliable evidence to show that the accused committed rape on the victim as alleged by the prosecution,” the court said.
The victim had alleged that the accused, who was a frequent visitor to her house, pretended love and expressed a desire to marry her. She deposed that the accused made her believe that his relatives would officially come and meet her with the marriage proposal.
Thereafter, the accused impregnated the victim which she came to know only when she was taken to a doctor due to vomiting.
The petitioner’s counsel pointed out that the only incriminating part in the testimony was that the “accused hugged and impregnated me”.
"There is no other evidence to suggest penetrative sexual intercourse. No DNA test was conducted to find out the paternity of the child. The trial court and the appeal court found that oral testimony of the victim and her mother are sufficient to suggest sexual intercourse. Section 375 of IPC shows that to commit ‘rape’, a man must have ‘sexual intercourse with a woman’," the counsel contended.