KAMAL KISHORE Vs. STATE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The victim of a rape had just crossed single digit in her age. So tender was that lass when she was ravished. But the damage caused to her genitalia was woeful. The girl narrated the story before Ms. Kiran Agarwal, Sessions Judge, Una (Himachal Pradesh) who tried the case, but the story told by her did not impress the Sessions Judge and hence her testimony was jettisoned and the man who was arraigned as the rapist exonerated. However, a Division Bench of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh dissented from the said verdict and convicted him under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code. Nonetheless, the Division Bench was not disposed to award the minimum sentence prescribed by law for the offence on the premise that the accused who was twenty five "might have settled in life". So the High Court directed him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for three years and to pay a fine of Rupees ten thousand.

(2.) The verdict of the High Court did not satisfy both sides - the accused and the State of Himachal Pradesh. The former because of the reversal of the order of acquittal and the latter because of the inadequacy of the sentence. So both sides filed separate appeals by special leave. We heard both appeals together.

(3.) The case put forward against the accused can be summarised in the following lines:- Shishna Devi (PW2) is the eldest of the three children of Sher Singh and his wife Kunta Devi. During the year of occurrence Sheshna Devi was studying in the 4th class. Accused Kamal Kishore was running a flour mill located adjacent to his house. The incident happened on 21-5-1989. Shishna Devi after taking her evening meals proceeded to the house of her aunt, but on the way she stepped into the house of the accused presumably for viewing a TV film. Either at the end of the film or a little before it Shishna Devi was asked by the mother of accused to fetch some cooking utensils from the flour mill. So she went and brought the utensils to the kitchen. It was right time and the accused followed her upto the kitchen. He caught hold of her from behind, muffled her mouth, lifted her up and took her to the flour mill and after dragging her to a side room, stripped her off and he committed rape on her.