Jharkhand HC: Entering woman’s house, lifting clothes not attempt to rape without overt act

RANCHI: The Jharkhand High Court has held that the act of entering the woman’s house at night, lifting her clothes and catching hold of her without any specific overt act sufficiently proximate to the commission of rape would not constitute an attempt to commit rape under Section 376/511 of the Indian Penal Code.

Justice Pradeep Kumar Srivastava of the Court made this significant legal ruling while substantially modifying a lower court's order in a case dating back to 1999.

The Court set aside the four-year rigorous imprisonment sentence imposed on the accused under Sections 376/511 of the IPC and instead treated the incident as an assault with the intent to outrage the woman's modesty under Section 354.

“The evidence of the prosecutrix, when considered in its entirety, does not disclose any specific overt act on the part of the appellant which can be said to constitute an act towards the commission of rape with her to attract the ingredients of an offence punishable under Section 376/511 of the I.P.C. The conduct of the appellant simply shows that he has committed some act of indecent assault with the prosecutrix, which may likely to outrage her modesty,” stated the court order.

Moreover, in its order, the court noted that more than 26 years had elapsed since the incident and that the accused had no prior criminal record.

“Further, more than 26 years have elapsed from the date of commission of the alleged offence, therefore, considering the nature of offence committed by the appellant, his age, character and antecedent, it appears expedient in the ends of justice to award him the sentence of imprisonment already undergone by him, i.e. about 8 months during the trial of the case. Therefore, he is sentenced to undergo for the period already undergone by him,” stated the court order.

As a result, the appeal was dismissed on merits with modification in conviction and sentence.

The incident dates back to the late night of December 27, 1999, when the woman was sleeping at her home in a village in East Singhbhum district in the absence of any male family member.

According to the allegations, the accused entered the room around midnight after opening the door with an alleged malicious intent. He allegedly behaved inappropriately with the woman and attempted to molest her by lifting her clothes.

When the woman raised an alarm, family members and neighbours rushed to the spot, prompting the accused to flee.

An FIR was lodged at the police station on December 31, 1999, in connection with the incident.

After the police filed a charge sheet, the Additional Sessions Judge of Ghatshila—having heard arguments from all parties—convicted the accused on July 28, 2006, under Sections 376/511 of the IPC and sentenced him to four years of rigorous imprisonment.

A criminal appeal against this lower court verdict was subsequently filed in the High Court.

During the hearing in the High Court, the amicus curiae argued that the statements made by the victim and witnesses did not establish the essential statutory ingredients required to prove an attempted rape.