Bombay HC upholds life term of man for raping a 3-and-half-year-old girl

The Bombay high court (HC) on Monday upheld the life term given to a 27-year-old from Sinnar in Nashik district for raping a three-and-a-half-year-old girl in September

The Bombay high court (HC) on Monday upheld the life term given to a 27-year-old from Sinnar in Nashik district for raping a three-and-a-half-year-old girl in September 2014.

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After scrutinising the evidence on record, the division bench comprising justice SS Shinde and justice MS Karnik concluded that the trial court had rightly convicted Sudam Shelke. The bench also affirmed the life imprisonment handed down to him, saying he did not deserve leniency.

According to the prosecution, the incident took place on September 12, 2014 when the girl, who was playing outside her house, could not be found. The family launched a search and her grandmother found the child crying in a nearby Bajra crop field.

The girl had to be taken to hospital as she had injuries in her private part.

The next day the child narrated the ordeal to her family, following which the police was informed and an offence was registered.

Shelke was arrested on September 17 and was subsequently prosecuted for sexually assaulting the child. The prosecution examined 11 witnesses that proved him guilty. On January 18, 2016, an additional sessions judge at Nashik convicted him for raping the child and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

Shelke then filed an appeal before HC challenging the conviction. The bench dismissed his appeal after noticing that the evidence on record showed that the convict had given his cell phone to the girl for playing sometime before the incident, the survivor’s grandmother had seen him running out of the Bajra field and his motorcycle was found lying nearby.

Besides, the court also took note of the fact that blood stains were found on an under garment of the accused and the DNA report specifically showed that blood group of the DNA extracted from the blood stains found on his underwear matched with blood group of survivor.

HC also rejected the argument advanced on his behalf that non-examination of the survivor was fatal to the prosecution case. The bench said the girl was hardly 3 years and 8 months old at the time and added, “There can be no infirmity in the prosecution case only because of non-examination of the victim.”

The HC bench also found no merit in the convict’s submission that his complicity in the crime was ruled out as he had not sustained any injury on his private part. He maintained that he should have suffered some injury, especially because the victim was only 3 years and 8 months old.

In this regard, HC said, the trial court had correctly relied on relevant medical jurisprudence that in young children there are few or no signs of general violence caused by resistance, for the child usually has no idea of what is happening and also it is incapable of resisting. In such cases, complete penetration is not possible, especially when the perpetrator is a grown up man, but slight penetration is sufficient to attract section 376 (sexual assault) of the Indian Penal Code.

“We are in agreement with the view of the trial court that no benefit can be given to the accused merely because he has not sustained any injury on his private part,” the bench said while dismissing Shelke’s appeal.