Prayagraj (UP), Jun 27 The Allahabad High Court has observed that an old and torn hymen cannot give the benefit of the doubt to the accused in a rape case if the victim's testimony is reliable.
The court has also clarified that rape is a legal term and not a medical term.
The court upheld the 1983 conviction and three-year jail sentence of a rape convict. The incident took place in 1982.
The bench of Justice Santosh Rai clarified that a hymen could be torn due to different factors, such as taking part in sports, cycling, gymnastics, horse-riding, extraneous physical labour or an accidental injury.
It further noted that some individuals are born with a perforated or absent hymen, while in some others, it is highly elastic and hence, medical findings of this nature cannot override a victim's credible statement.
Rakesh had moved the high court challenging his conviction and three-year sentence awarded by the additional sessions judge of Allahabad in May 1983.
The victim, an illiterate 15-year-old girl, had gone to ease herself in the Kachhar area across a canal in her village at around 9:30 am. Rakesh, along with another co-convict, intercepted the victim and took turns to rape her. When she resisted, they brutally assaulted her with blows.
The trial court convicted the two men based on the victim's oral testimony, which was corroborated by the medical report prepared on the same day.
The medical report indicated six distinct injuries, including abrasions, a linear scratch and contusions, on her body.
During the hearing of the criminal appeal before the high court, the counsel for the convict submitted that the medical evidence pointed towards the victim's old torn hymen, which indicated that she was habituated to having physical relationships with others. Relying on this submission, the convict's counsel attempted to prove that his client had not committed rape or gang rape with the victim.
The high court, however rejected this hyper-technical approach and the argument highlighting the "bad character" of the victim.
The court observed, "If the hymen was old and torn, an accused cannot be granted the benefit of the doubt solely on the aforesaid ground, whereas the statement of the victim regarding committing rape is wholly reliable."
"Rape is a legal term, not a medical term. Thus, on the basis of the opinion of the doctor that the hymen was old and torn, a specific finding cannot be drawn that the accused appellant has not committed rape with the victim," it added.
The court also emphasised that the offence of rape is normally committed in a secret environment, meaning that there is practically no possibility of finding independent eyewitnesses.
Rakesh was on bail. In its judgment dated June 23, the high court cancelled the convict's bail bonds with immediate effect and ordered him to surrender before the trial court within 10 days to serve out the remainder of his sentence.
