NOORKHAN RAHIMATKHAN PATHAN Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE appellant here was charged initially under section 376 of the I. P. C. (and thereafter, alternatively though, under section 354 I. P. C.) for committing rape on an young woman. He, however, came to be convicted for attempt to commit rape under section 376 read with section 511 I. P. C. Upon conviction he was sentenced to R. I. for 2 years and a fine of Rs. 500, in default to suffer further R. I. for a period of 8 months.

(2.) THE incident occured almost 12 years ago from this date. The accused Noorkhan residing in the Kamalanagar Slum (Zopadpatti) of Dharavi, is a dealer in scrap. He has a small hut in the slum area. The hut, however, has a loft also where a lot of scrap which constitutes his stock in trade, is stored. At the relevant time in July 1981 the accused had in his employment two persons by name Shaikh Mehmood Dilwarkhan and Babu Bhankar. It is the prosecution case that the accused had also employed the victim in this case, Govindammal, wife of one Gemini Ganesh, whose house is situated at a short distance from the accuseds, hut, which is apparently used both as a place for conduct of business as also his residence. The accused claims to have been residing in this hut alongwith his wife, mother and children also, at the material time. Govindammal as per the prosecution case, had been in the employment of accused for a period of about 2 months before this incident on 8th of July 1981. The victim Govindammal had delivered a male child only a month or so before this incident, as also appears to be the prosecution case. She was being paid Rs. 8 per day as wages and was required to work from 8 a. m. to 6 p. m. every day.

(3.) GOVINDAMMALS husband Gemini Ganesh was at home in the evening and when the infant started crying for its feed, he thought that he would conveniently take the infant to the mother, on an assumption that Govindammal was still busy with work in the employers shop. Therefore, he went over to the shop alongwith the infant. It was past 6 p. m. then. He saw two servants in the shop and enquired about his wife with them. The strange manner in which the servants looked at each other aroused some suspicion in his mind and, therefore he decided to verify the matter himself. A seven steps ladder is provided for access to the loft. As he started going up to the ladder he also saw that the accused Noorkhan came down from the loft. Without any exchange of greetings and questions Gemini Ganesh went up and found his wife lying in an unconscious condition, completely naked. He realised that something was seriously wrong and, therefore, came down the loft for seeking help. He met two persons Kalian and Ammasi. With their help he dressed up the naked wife and brought her down from the loft. A taxi was engaged in which he took her to the Sion Hospital where preliminary examination was carried out by the medical officer Dr. Kalpana Waingankar. Govindammals case was considered grave enough to be admitted to the hospital. She was put in Ward No. 12 meant for females. She was examined there by the other Doctor Dr. Mrs. Sathe. A Medical examination was conducted and the report was also furnished to the police, who had been informed by then and had arrived also. It was only during the journey from accuseds shop upto the hospital or after she reached the hospital that Govindammal had regained consciousness. In the said Ward No. 12 of the Sion Hospital, the P. S. I. Patil recorded the complaint of Govindammal with the assistance of one Gangubai who knew Tamil for the reason that Govindammal does not understand any other language. The P. S. I. proceeded to register an offence under section 376 of the I. P. C. on the basis of this complaint. Actually, offence was registered under section 376 read with section 114 I. P. C. inasmuch as two servants in the shop of the accused also came to be implicated at the conclusion of the investigation carried out by the police. The articles of clothings on the person of Govindammal, when she was taken to the hospital were removed and she was provided with hospital patients uniform. The articles of her clothings were seized by P. S. I. Patil during the investigation. The accused was arrested on the same night. His articles of clothing were also seized. All these articles of clothing were sent to the Chemical Analyser for examination and report. Samples of the blood of the accused as also Govindammal were taken.