Absence Of Injuries No Ground To Hold Penetrative Sexual Assault Didn’t Take Place: HC In Rape Case

Mere absence of injuries cannot be a ground to hold that penetrative sexual assault did not take place on a minor, the Delhi High Court on Monday held while upholding the 12-year imprisonment of a man for sexually violating a four-and-a-half-year-old girl.

Justice Amit Bansal upheld the man's conviction for the offences of kidnapping and sexually assaulting the child, saying there was no infirmity in the trial court's judgement.

Regarding the man's contention that there were no injuries on the private parts of the victim, the high court said, "The trial court has correctly observed that injury on the private parts in cases of sexual offences depends on various factors such as depth of insertion, among others. It is not necessary that in every case there would be an injury caused.

"Therefore, the mere absence of injuries cannot be a ground to hold that penetrative sexual assault did not take place," it observed.

The high court said under Section 29 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, there is a statutory presumption raised against the accused.

Section 29 of the POCSO Act says that when a person is prosecuted for committing an offence of sexual assault against a minor, the special court trying the case "shall presume" the accused to be guilty.

"In the present case, the accused has failed to successfully rebut the aforesaid presumption by leading evidence or discrediting the evidence of the prosecution. The appellant (man) has not been able to shake the version of the prosecution and the prosecution has successfully proved its case beyond reasonable doubt," the high court said, adding that the testimony of the victim is credible and trustworthy.

It dismissed the man's appeal against his conviction and sentence, saying that he has not been able to shake the version of the prosecution which has successfully proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt.

According to the prosecution, the incident took place in June 2017 when the child, who was playing outside her house, went missing.

While searching for the minor, her father went to a neighbour's house and found her there, it said.

The prosecution said on returning home, the child disclosed that the man had taken her to his house on the pretext of giving her "mango frooti" and sexually assaulted her.

The parents informed police and a case was registered against the man at Gulabi Bagh Police Station.

The man's counsel argued before the high court that the entire case of the prosecution rests only on the sole testimony of the victim and has not been corroborated by the medical evidence.

He submitted that the testimony of the victim cannot be relied upon without corroboration as it suffered from material contradictions.