IQBAL SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Iqbal Singh (39) and Mohan Singh (55) are school teachers who have been sentenced to life imprisonment for having committed rape upon their student Satwinder Kaur (17). They have respectively filed appeals against their conviction and sentence passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Ropar on November 27, 1999. The appeals are Criminal Appeal 613-DB of 1999 filed by Iqbal Singh and Criminal Appeal 51-DB of 2000 filed by Mohan Singh. Both the appeals shall be heard and decided together.

(2.) Iqbal Singh and Mohan Singh were employed as teachers at Senior Secondary School, Sarhala Mundian, District Hoshiarpur. Satwinder Kaur (date of birth November 30, 1981) (PW-2) was a student of the said school studying in class +2. On December 7, 1998 the appellants along with Jarnail Singh had taken 50 boys and girls of their school, including Satwinder Kaur (PW-2) on a trip to Chandigarh. On the way back from Chandigarh they stopped at Anandpur Sahib for the night. The party reached Gurdwara Keshgarh Sahib and the appellants booked rooms 17, 44, 50 and 51 for the night at the residential complex of the Gurdwara Sahib. The girls were lodged in room 50, the boys in room 44, room 51 was occupied by the appellants and room 17 by Jarnail Singh. At about 9.30 p.m. Satwinder Kaur (PW2) felt unwell and went to the appellants' room along with two other students, namely Harvinder Kaur and Kamaljit Kaur. She met Iqbal Singh appellant who gave her two tablets and asked the girls accompanying her to bring water. Satwinder Kaur took the tablets and Iqbal Singh advised her to sit there. Mohan Singh asked the two other girls to go back to their room and told them that Satwinder Kaur would join them later on. Satwinder Kaur started feeling sleepy after taking the tablets. Iqbal Singh caught hold of her arms and when she tried to release herself they bolted the door from inside. The appellants threw a quilt on her. Mohan Singh tied her mouth with her dupatta, whereafter Iqbal Singh raped her against her wishes and Mohan Singh also raped her against her wishes. Satwinder Kaur lost consciousness. When she regained consciousness at 3 a.m. on the next morning she found that she was lying naked. Iqbal Singh and Mohan Singh threatened her that in case she told anyone about the incident they would fail her in the examination and would kill her and her parents. Satwinder Kaur was asked to go quietly to her room.

(3.) On returning home Satwinder Kaur did not inform anyone regarding the incident as she had been threatened and was scared. On December 18, 1998 she narrated the incident to her widowed mother. On December 19 her uncle Sukhdev Singh was called and they discussed the incident. On December 21, Satwinder Kaur, her mother and uncle Sukhdev Singh went to the school and narrated the incident to Principal Sarwan Ram Rai. On December 22 they went to P.S. Anandpur Sahib where Satwinder Kaur filed a written application, on the basis of which the case was registered against the appellants.