BIJU, ASARIKANDIYIL VEEDU Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE accused, who was prosecuted for the offences punishable under Sections 376 and 307 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 3(1)(xii) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, was found guilty of the offence punishable under Section 376 IPC and was convicted and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of eight years and was also directed to pay compensation of Rs.50,000/- to PW1 and in default of which to suffer rigorous imprisonment for a further period of two years. Set off as per law was allowed.

(2.) THE proceedings originated on a private complaint filed by PW1 in this case. The said private complaint, which is marked as Ext.P1, was forwarded for investigation under Section 156(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The allegation against the accused is that while PW1, the victim was undergoing a course in a Government ITC, she gained acquaintance with the accused who induced and lured her with a promise of marriage and made her believe that since they belonged to two different communities, their relatives and neighbours would not agree for their marriage and they would not be able to get a peaceful life and therefore it would be better to go to a distant place where they could lead a happy married life. Under that pretext, the accused, by giving an impression to his relatives that he is going to the middle- east for employment, made PW1, the victim to leave her house on 06.11.2000 as if she was going to College and they met at Calicut. They travelled together to Kollam where they stayed in a rented house. The allegation is that the accused continued his promise of marrying the victim and under that belief, she was made to consent for sexual intercourse in spite of her reluctance to the said course. Even though PW1 reminded and insisted that the marriage be gone through, it is claimed that the accused put it off under one pretext or another. However, he continued to make her to believe that he would marry her. In the meanwhile, the relatives of the accused became suspicious about his whereabouts and on enquiry they came to know that PW1 and the accused were staying at Kollam. The relatives came there and the accused and PW1 were forced to go to Kozhikode. The allegation is that on the way to Kozhikode, she was pushed out of the train by the accused who also fell down and both of them suffered injuries and they underwent treatment in the Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode for seven days. Thereafter the accused deserted her. Pointing out that the accused managed to have sexual intercourse making her a belief that he would marry her and they could lead a happy married life, she was deceptively made to yield to his sexual desire.

(3.) THE court before which the charge was laid found that the case is exclusively triable by a Special Court and therefore, committed the case to Special Court for Trial of SC/ST (PA) Act cases, Kozhikode. The said court, on receipt of the records and on appearance of the accused, framed charges for the offences punishable under Sections 376 and 307 IPC and Section 3(1)(xii) of SC/ST (PA) Act. To the charge, the accused pleaded not guilty and claimed to be tried. The prosecution, therefore, had PWs 1 to 15 examined and Exts.P1 to P15 marked. The defence had Exts.D1 to D4 namely, inconsistent versions of Section 161 statement marked.