Top court cautions judges on accepting rape victim testimony
At a time when a rape victim woman’s statement is being accepted by the courts on its face value to award punishment to the person accused of sexually assaulting her, the Supreme Court on Friday put up a cautionary note for trial judges, saying unless her testimony inspired full confidence the accused cannot be convicted just in a routine manner merely on the basis of her statement.
“Conviction can be based on the sole testimony of the prosecutrix (woman alleging rape), provided it lends assurance of her testimony. However, in case the court has reasons not to accept her version on its face value, it may look for corroboration (by other evidence). In case the evidence is read in its totality and the story projected by her is found to be impossible, the prosecutrix case becomes liable to be rejected,” a bench of Justices B.S. Chauhan and Dipak Misra ruled in a judgment.
In a case based entirely on the sole testimony of the rape victim, the prosecution has to prove it “beyond reasonable doubts” but it could not take the support from the weakness of the accused person’s case. There must be proper legal evidence and supporting material on record against the accused to sustain his conviction, the top court said.
“The trial court must act with sensitivity and appreciate the evidence in totality of the background of the entire case and not in the isolation. The court is required to adjudicate whether the accused committed rape on the victim on the occasion complained of,” the SC ruled.
The verdict came on an appeal of Narender Kumar from the national capital, awarded seven years’ sentence by the trial judge and affirmed by the Delhi high court. The entire case of prosecution was based on the “sole” statement of the woman, who in an FIR had said that when she was going from Khirki village to Chirag Delhi around 8 pm on September 16, 1998 she met Kumar on the way. He caught hold of her hand, dragged her to the nearby bushes near a drain and raped her.
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