STATE Vs. RANGASWAMY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) WE have heard the learned Addl. SPP as also the learned advocate who has been appointed amicus curiae on behalf of the accused-respondents on merits. The accused have been served but have not appeared and are unrepresented and it is for this reason that the Court was requested to appoint an amicus curiae Counsel.

(2.) BRIEFLY stated, the prosecution alleges that at about 11 a. m. on 17-3-1995 at Chigalur village, that the 4 accused persons came to the house of PW 5 Jayamma. They are alleged to have got into an argument with her and demanded that the complaint which had been lodged against them with the police by her husband must be withdrawn. They also threatened her with dire consequences if this was not done and according to her because she refused to agree to the withdrawal that they forcibly dragged her into the bushes close by and that between the 4 accused they over powered her and that she was raped by two of them one after the other while the remaining persons held her down. She states that PW. 1 passed by at that time and seeing him, that the accused persons ran away from that place. According to her she was in such a state of shock and pain that she just remained in that position for quite some time and thereafter made her way to the hospital at Hassan. The medical records support this version because PW 12 Dr. Sujatha has made the necessary entries on the basis of her complaint that she was raped by the 4 accused. The doctor has also noted the external injuries viz. , bite marks on both the right and left breast as also tenderness on the left forearm. She was admitted to the hospital and she was thereafter treated by Dr. Ashalatha who is PW 14. This doctor has also deposed about the injuries but for some strange reasons, both the doctors indicate that there were absolutely no injuries of any type on the genital area. Also, the forensic evidence is of no help because we do not have on record any evidence of sexual intercourse. The learned trial Judge for a variety of reasons the main ones being that there was some background of hostility between the parties, and that Jayamma states that she was blind folded during the time when she was raped and that only from the voices, she was able to identify the accused and what they did to her, the fact that according to her she remained lying at that spot for as long as two hours and also that she did not give her clothes which would have some vital clues, to the doctors has refused to accept the truth of the charges and has acquitted the accused. The present appeal is directed against that order.

(3.) WE need to take note of the fact that in this as in all other rape cases there are not going to be eye-witnesses nor are there going to be witnesses to the actual incident. Invariably the Court is required to accept or reject the testimony of the victim and if the evidence is good enough it is usually supported by the medical evidence and forensic evidence. In the present case the evidence of PW-5 Jayamma is not supported by PW. 1 because he has given totally non-committal evidence and it is clear that he has been won over. Jayamma's evidence is very clear with regard to the aspect of identifying the 4 accused. It is also very clear about the fact that pursuant to their common intention she was held down by the accused persons and two of them raped her. She has also stated that the bite injuries on her breast were sustained in the course of this incident. The real difficulty that has arisen in this case arises from the fact that PW-12 Dr. Sujatha in her evidence states that Jayamma had complained of an attempt to rape and not actual rape. Whereas Dr. Ashalatha accepts the position that Jayamma had complained of having been raped. The doctors in this case obviously because Jayamma is a poor villager did not seem to have evinced the requisite interest nor have they acted responsibly and professionally as one would expect in a case where there is a serious charge of rape. The manner in which they have conducted themselves is cavalier, to say the least and the same is the manner in which they have given evidence before the Court. Thanks to this totally disinterested and non-professional attitude that the Court is left with virtually zero assistance from the medical evidence. We do expect that the members of the medical profession and particularly doctors who are working in the public hospitals should grasp the seriousness and the horrifying consequences of the offence of rape and other sexual assaults and that they should act with a far more professional, responsible and considerate manner. The fact that such an incident took place is bad enough and the fact that because of this type of handling in the hospitals the Courts are forced to acquit the accused is compounding injustice and it is high time that the medical profession realises the damage that it is doing and acts in the manner which the law and the Courts expect of them.