Kolkata: After 27 years, a man accused of outraging the modesty of a five-year old girl in 1998 has been asked by the Calcutta High Court to appear before the trial court to serve his sentence of imprisonment.
The bench of Justice Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee was moved by the appellant challenging the judgement and order of the lower court which rejected his appeal and upheld the 1998 trial court order awarding him six months imprisonment under Section 323 IPC (voluntarily causing hurt) and seven months under Section 354 of IPC (outraging woman’s modesty using criminal force).
On September 17, 1998, at about 2:30 pm, the petitioner (accused) allegedly entered the victim girl’s house and touched her private parts, causing injuries. She was admitted to Chinsurah Hospital. Doctor examining her deposed that the hymen was ruptured and fresh vaginal bleeding was present, besides other injuries.
The petitioner contended that prosecution failed to prove charges beyond reasonable doubt. He challenged the judgement on following grounds: Victim couldn’t identify him till instructed by parents which vitiated trial; existing dispute between accused and victim family leading to false implication; grave contradictions in prosecution witness; courts below defied criminal jurisprudence principle by not considering that he didn’t have capability to understand consequences of his act.
The petitioner prayed that if the court rejects his argument then let him just pay fine instead of imprisonment since nearly 27 years have passed and he went through a long drawn trial. The court observed the victim’s evidence was corroborated by medical evidence. Further, even if the accused may not have had the prudence of an average person, he is not to be reckoned as devoid of natural physical urges. He was not represented by a guardian and didn’t show any proof that at the relevant point of time he was insane or not capable of understanding about the consequence of the offence in order to get protection under the law.
Accused was asked to appear before trial court and serve out his sentence. Trial court can issue an arrest warrant if he fails to appear.