STATE OF KARNATAKA Vs. MEHABOOB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Sessions Judge, Tumkur, having acquitted the accused-respondents 1 to 5 of the charge of the offences of abduction, rape and robbery, punishable under Ss.366, 376 and 395 IPC, the State has filed this appeal.

(2.) The facts of the case have been set out elaborately and in more detail in the judgment under appeal passed by the Sessions Judge. Briefly stated the facts of the prosecution, as tried to be made out at the trial from the mouth of the witnesses examined at the trial, may however be stated as follows : PW-1 Usha is the prosecutrix and the complainant in the case. She having been married to one Pooja Venkatesh, an employee working in Indian Telephone Industries at Bangalore, was residing with him at Bangalore. PW-7 Ramaiah being her father and an employee in the office of Karnataka Electricity Board at Tumkur, while working as a lineman, was residing in K.E.B. quarters allotted to him at Tumkur. He was however not keeping good health. PW-1 Usha was therefore going to Tumkur off and on to see him. On 24-7-1980, she went to Tumkur by a bus. When the bus reached the bus-stand there at about 10 p.m., she got down from the bus and engaged autorickshaw bearing registration No. MYT 5117 belonging to PW 4 Mohammed Azinullabiuddin driven by A-1 Mehaboob, to take her to her father's house situated at K.E.B. quarters. A-1 drove the vehicle for some distance and he then gave a loud whistle. Immediately thereafter four persons including A-2 Rasheed, A-3 Khaleel and A-5 Krishna came near the autorickshaw and while two got into the autorickshaw from one side, the other two got into it from the otherside and A-1 thereafter, instead of taking PW- 1 to her father's house at K.E.B. quarters, took her with the remaining four accused in the autorickshaw towards Kunigal Gate. When PW-1 Usha questioned A-1 as to why he was going towards Kunigal Gate, he told her that route also lead to KEB quarters. Another autorickshaw bearing registration No. MYT 5463 belonging to PW-3 Umapathy and driven by A-4 Jagadish also followed them. When the autorickshaw MYT 5117 driven by A-1 reached the circle near the General Hospital, one of the four persons who had got into the autorickshaw got down and got into autorickshaw MYT 5463 which was coming behind following. Thereafter, one of the remaining three, who were sitting on either side of PW-1, caught hold of her neck and threatened to cut her throat if she resisted and snatched away an amount of Rs. 25/- as also Mangala-sutra (two Talis and gold beads) with black beads worn by her. In the meanwhile, when the two autorickshaws reached a nala near Marlur on the road to Kunigal, A-1 stopped the autorickshaw and thereafter A-1 and the remaining four accused took PW-1 to a ditch by the side of a garden land and one after another started having forcible sexual intercourse with her. PW.5 Ramachandra, a driver of another autorickshaw MYT 5073, and PW-14 Althaf Pasha, who had earlier seen PW-1 being taken in the autorickshaw MYT 5117, probably suspecting evil intentions of the accused were found making inquiries with the persons going in the vehicles passing on the road as to in which direction the autorickshaw, had gone. When PW-17 Police Constable Chandraiah of Tilak Park Police Station and another D.R.R. Police Constable one Narahari Rao, while going on night patrolling duty, learnt from PWs-5 and 14 that a girl meaning thereby, PW-1, had been taken in the autorickshaw with some evil intention, PW-17 and his companion Narahari Rao went towards Kunigal Gate. When they together went about a kilometer ahead of Kunigal Gate, they saw a group of persons coming from the side of the field. When they went ahead, they also heard crying voice of PW-1 coming from the side of nala and when they went in that direction, A-4 and A-5 who were present there managed to run away. In the meanwhile PWs-5 and 14 also came there and with their help and help of other people they caught hold of A-1, A-2 and A-3 and on enquiry, when PW-1 told that she had forcibly been ravished by the accused, after questioning A-1 to A-3 and the names of those other who ran away, PW 17 and Narahari Rao took PW-1 along with A-1 to A-3 in the autorickshaw MYT 5117 to Tilak Park Police station and produced before the Head Constable in charge of the police station. It was round about 1.30 a.m. PW-1 was almost exhausted. When the Head Constable in charge of the police station told PW-17 that the place of incident was within the jurisdiction of Tumkur Rural Police Station and advised him to take them to the concerned police station, PW-17 took them in the same autorickshaw MYT 5117 to the Tumkur Rural Police Station and produced them before the Sub Inspector of Police and orally reported him of the incident. It was about 2.30 a.m. on 25-7-1980. PW-18 G. Parameshwarappa, the PSI, who was in charge of the police station questioned PW-1 and recorded her complaint as per Ex.P-1 and on the basis of the same he registered a case in Cr. No. 71/80 for the offences punishable under Ss. 366, 376 and 395 IPC and issued FIR to the Court. He arrested A-1 to A-3 and sent them to the General Hospital, Tumkur, for medical examination of their person. He also sent PW-1 with a lady constable PW-12 G.T. Parvathamma to the hospital for medical examination. Later on, when A-4 was brought and produced before him, he sent him also to the hospital for medical examination. Thereafter, when the C.P.I. came to the Police Station, he handed over the investigation of the case to him. PW-19 N. Veerabhadraiah, the CPI, verified the investigation so far made by the P.S.I. and thereafter seized the auto MYT 5117 under Panchanama Ex.P-11. He examined the place of incident and drew up panchanama. Later on when PW-1 returned from the hospital, he seized blouse M0-2 worn by her, it was torn and after medical examination he sent A-1 to A-4 to the court and obtained police custody remand. On 26-7-1980 he also seized another autorickshaw MYT 5463 and recorded the statements of witnesses including PWs-5 and 14. On 27-7-1980, he recorded the statements of PWs-3, 4, 6, 7, 17 and others and thereafter sent the four accused to court and obtained judicial custody remand. Later on when he received petty-coat MO-1 of PW-1 as also underwears MOs-7 to 10 worn by the accused from the Medical Officers, he seized them and sent them to Chemical Analyser, Forensic Science Laboratory, Bangalore. On 22-9-1980, he arrested A-5 and on the information furnished by him he recovered a pair of gold Mangalyas MOs-3 and 4 produced by PW-13 Shivanna and after completing the investigation, he sent up the charge-sheet against the accused.

(3.) The defence of the accused was one of total denial. The further defence tried to be made out was that PW-1 having been abandoned by her husband had taken to prostitution and the police had got foisted a fake case on them, suggesting thereby PW-1 herself being a woman of immoral character no relevance at all could be placed on her evidence.