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Removing minor girl's underwear, getting naked ‘not attempt to rape’: Rajasthan high court
The Rajasthan high court made the statement while delivering a judgment in a 33-year-old case.
The Rajasthan high court recently ruled that the act of removing a minor girl's innerwear and getting naked in front of her does not amount to an “attempt to commit rape”, and instead could be considered an “offence of outraging the woman's modesty”.
The high court made the statement while delivering a judgment in a 33-year-old case wherein the complainant's granddaughter - who was about six years old then - was reportedly assaulted.
According to the complaint, the girl was drinking water at a water booth when the accused - who was 25 years old at that time - forcefully took her to a nearby ‘Dharamshala’ with the intention to commit rape on her, reported News18. However, when the girl raised her voice, the villagers rescued her. Following this, the accused fled the scene.
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While the complaint mentions that the accused undressed himself and the victim, it did not allege that the accused attempted penetration.
Responding to the case, the high court said it does not fall under the Sections 376 and 511 of the IPC and will not attract the offence of “attempt to commit rape”. The single-judge bench of Justice Dhand further emphasised on the term “attempt”, saying that the accused must have “gone beyond the stage of preparation”.
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Dhand said that “three stages” need to be fulfilled for an act to be punishable under an attempt to rape - first is when the accused entertains the idea or intention to commit the offence, second when he makes preparations to commit it, and third, when he takes deliberate steps to commit the offence, reported News18.
The court also cited examples of some cases, such as ‘Damodar Behera vs Odisha’ and ‘Sittu vs Rajasthan’ where the accused forcibly stripped the victim naked and tried to have physical relations with her, despite the girl resisting it. According to the high court, these cases were attempts to rape.
