NAYAN DEB Vs. STATE OF TRIPURA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal by the convicted accused is directed against the judgment dated 26.03.2014 passed by the learned Sessions Judge, West Tripura, whereby he convicted the accused of having committed rape under Section 376(1) IPC and sentenced him to undergo imprisonment for 10 years and to pay fine of Rs. 2000/- and in default of payment of fine to undergo further rigorous imprisonment for a period of two months.

(2.) Briefly stated the prosecution story is that the accused raped the victim(name withheld and hereinafter referred to as the victim). According to the prosecution the accused caught hold of the victim on the eve of Durgapuja at the tube well near their house. Thereafter the accused forcibly took the victim to a vacant room inside the house and had forcible sexual intercourse with her. The complaint was made by the brother of the victim(PW6) on 16th March 2013, i.e. about seven months after the occurrence had taken place. In this complaint it was stated that his sister had become pregnant as a result of the rape. In this complaint it was also stated that since the accused had promised to marry the sister and because she was scared she had not disclosed anything to her family members. However, after she became sick on account of pregnancy and when the pregnancy was physically apparent they came to know that the sister was pregnant and it was only then that the family members realized that there had been sexual intercourse. On asking the sister told them about the occurrence. Thereupon they pressed on the accused Nayan Deb to marry the sister but he refused to marry the sister and therefore the case was lodged. The averments in the complaint clearly indicate that there were no eyewitnesses to the occurrence and that the victim had not disclosed the factum of being raped to any family member till the pregnancy itself was discovered.

(3.) The brother appeared in witness box as PW6 and has given a totally different version. According to him one day after the occurrence his younger sister Papiya Deb informed him that on the previous night the accused had forcibly taken away the victim from the tube well to an empty room and committed rape on her. He also states that this fact was confirmed by the victim. Thereafter he told some persons, namely Biplab Chakraborty, Hare Krishna Sarkar and Samar Deb, etc. about the occurrence. Due to the rape the victim got pregnant. He also states that when the pregnancy was in an advanced stage Nayan Deb ultimately married the victim but did not take her to his house. Therefore, he lodged a complaint with the Women Police Station. As per his statement the accused married the victim but when the accused did not take the victim to his house then the complaint was lodged.