1 2025:CGHC:6895 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR CRA No. 2361 of 2023 Ramchandra Dewangan S/o Omprakash Dewangan Aged About 34 Years R/o Village- Targawa, School Para, Police Station- Patna, District : Koriya (Baikunthpur), Chhattisgarh ... Appellant versus State of Chhattisgarh Through The Station House OfÏcer, Police Station- Patna, District : Koriya (Baikunthpur), Chhattisgarh ... Respondent For Appellant : Mr. Chandresh Shrivastava, Advocate For Respondent : Mr. Keshav Prasad Gupta, Govt. Adv. Hon'ble Shri Justice Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice Judgment on Board 06/02/2025 1. This appeal arises out of the judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 09.11.2023 passed by the Additional Sessions Judge, (Fast Track Court), Baikunthpur, District - Koriya, (C.G.) in Sessions Trial No. 130/2021, whereby the appellant has been convicted for offence mentioned as under: Conviction Sentence U/s 450 of Indian Penal Code (in short 'the IPC') R.I. for 10 years and fine of Rs.2,000/-, in default of payment of fine to further undergo R.I. for one PREETI KUMARI Digitally signed by PREETI KUMARI Date: 2025.02.13 11:31:09 +0530 2 month U/s 376(2)(l) of the IPC R.I. for 10 years and fine of Rs.2,000/-, in default of payment of fine to further undergo R.I. for one month Both the sentences are directed to run concurrently 2. The prosecution story, in brief, is that mother (PW-01) of the prosecutrix/victim made a complaint (Ex.P-1) on 09.07.2021 in the Police Station Patna, District Korea, alleging that on the date of incident i.e. 08/07/2021 at 7.00 P.M., she went to the hand pump to fetch water, the victim was sleeping, so she had closed the door of the house. When she returned, the door was open and the appellant was forcibly having physical relations with the victim. The appellant was lying on the victim in a naked state. Upon seeing the complainant, the appellant got up and started wearing clothes, she scolded him and started arguing whereupon, he ran away from there. When the victim was asked, she pointed her hand on her chest and vagina, when she checked her vagina, it was wet. She understood that he had committed rape upon her daughter. Her husband was not at home, when he came at night, she told him about the incident in the morning and went to the Police Station and lodged the report. On the basis of written complaint, the Police of Police Station Patna, Koriya registered the FIR in Crime No.187/2021 for offence under Sections 450, 376(2)(l) of the IPC against the appellant vide Ex.P-1. Spot map was prepared by the investigating ofÏcer vide Ex.P-4. The victim was medically examined by Dr. Barkha Jaiswal (PW- 4) who gave the medical report (Ex.P-6). The blanket and bedsheet lying on the bed were seized from the crime scene on which semen like stains were found. The victim was examined at Medical College Hospital, 3 Ambikapur regarding her mental condition and her competence to give a statement, in respect of which Ex.P-7A was registered. Statements of the parents of the victim were recorded, thereafter, appellant was arrested vide arrest memo Ex.P12. Seizure memo Ex.P-10 was prepared in which vaginal slides, underwear, hair stains and pubic hair were sealed and seized. Vide seizure memo Ex.P-11, two pieces of semen slide and pubic hair and underwear of the accused was seized in sealed condition. A report was sent to the Naib Tahsildar, Patna for preparing the site map from the Patwari. The application of Ex.P-17 for recording the statement of the victim’s mother under Section 164 of the CrPC was sent before the learned Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC), Baikunthpur. The seized items were sent to the State Forensic Science Laboratory, Ambikapur, along with the report of the Ex.P-20 through the Superintendent of Police for testing. The report of which was received as Ex. P-22, in which the slide of the vaginal discharge of the victim, and human sperms were found in the underwear, blanket, semen slide and underwear of the accused. 3. After completion of investigation, the charge-sheet was filed before the JMFC, Baikunthpur, District - Koriya (C.G.), who in turn, committed the case to the Court of Sessions, Koriya, Baikunthpur, from where the Additional Sessions Judge (F.T.C.), Baikunthpur received the case on transfer for trial 4. The trial Court has framed charges against the appellant under Sections 450 and 376(2)(I) of the IPC. The appellant abjured his guilt and pleaded innocence. 5. In order to establish the charges against the appellant, the prosecution examined as many as 11 witnesses and exhibited the documents (Exs.P- 4 1 to P-26). The statement of the appellant under Section 313 of CrPC was also recorded in which he denied the material appearing against him and stated that he is innocent and he has been falsely implicated in the instant case. But, after appreciation of evidence available on record, the learned Sessions Court has convicted the accused/appellant and sentenced him as mentioned in para 1 of the judgment. Hence, this appeal. 6. Learned counsel for the appellant submits that the learned trial Court failed to appreciate that the prosecution has miserably failed to bring home the ingredients of charges framed against the appellant. He further submits that there was previous animosity between the appellant and father of the victim, and the appellant had also lodged a report against the father of the victim, therefore, the appellant has been falsely implicated in this case. Further, the appellant has been convicted only on the basis of sole testimony of the mother of the victim. The statement of the mother of the victim is contradictory and do not find support from any independent witness. Further, there are contradictions and omissions in the statements of the prosecution witnesses. He further submits that the prosecution has failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. Thus, learned trial Court has based its findings on conjectures and surmises and also relied upon inadmissible part of the evidences. Looking to the entire evidence adduced by the prosecution, the alleged offence is not made out against the appellant and he has been falsely implicated in the present case. As such, the criminal appeal deserves to be allowed and the impugned judgment deserves to be set aside. 7. On the other hand, learned counsel for the State opposes the submissions made by the learned counsel for the appellant and submits 5 that the prosecution has proved its case beyond reasonable doubt. He further submits that the DNA report (Ex.P-26) confirms sexual intercourse with the victim by the accused/appellant. Mother (PW-01) of the victim is the eye witness to the incident and the conviction is based on her testimony and its supporting evidence. Thus, learned trial Court after considering the material available on record has rightly convicted and sentenced the appellant, in which no interference is called for. 8. I have heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused the record with utmost circumspection. 9. Insofar as, age of the victim on the date of the commission of the offence is concerned, she was admittedly 18 years old at the time of the unsavory incident. 10.The victim (PW-9) who is deaf and mentally unsound was examined in the Court with the help of Special Educator Judika Kindo. When asked through gestures, she identified the accused/appellant and when asked about the incident, she pointed towards her private parts and was unable to tell anything else. 11.Dr. Sandeep Tammineedi (PW-5), who is working as a Psychiatrist Government Medical College Ambikapur, has examined the victim. He has stated in his evidence that the victim was not capable of giving any statement. She was mentally ill since childhood. His report is Ex.P-7. 12.Dr. Barkha Jaiswal (PW-4) had medically examined the victim on 09.07.2021. Her last menstrual period was started to be 10.03.2021. At that time, she was menstruating and was neither pregnant. The victim was mentally unsound and unable to speak, her heart rate was running as 86 beats per minute, blood pressure was 100/70 and respiratory rate 6 was 16 per minute. It was required to examine the mental status of the victim. There was no external injury on the body of the victim, but the hymen was ruptured. There was bleeding which was found to be painful during the course of medical examination. There was a ruptured tear near the hymen. The victim was wearing a pink kurta, purple leggings and dark blue panty. 13.In this case, information was sent to the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory, Ambikapur regarding which samples are to be collected from the seized material for DNA testing. In this case, the victim's vaginal slide, underwear, hair strands, light blue coloured thread, blanket, semen slide, appellant’s pubic hair, appellant’s underwear were sent for chemical testing through the Superintendent of Police to the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory through (Ex-P-20), for which acknowledgment (Ex.P-21) was received and after testing, report (Ex.P- 22) was received. According to which semen stains and human sperms were found in sample A, B, E and G. Semen Stains were not found in C- 1, C-2 and F. 14. On 21.03.2022, after obtaining permission from the trial Court, the blood sample of the accused/appellant was duly taken for DNA testing and the victim's blood sample, vaginal slide of the victim, underwear were sent for DNA testing through the Superintend of Police to the State Forensic Science Laboratory Raipur through the report of (Ex.P-23). The victim's blood sample was presented by the doctor for DNA testing and was presented in a sealed condition by Constable Purnima Sidar, which was seized and seizure sheet Ex.P-24 was prepared. On 29.03.2022, the accused/appellant's blood sample was preserved by the doctor, which was seized when brought by Constable 7 Ram Singh and seizure sheet (Ex.-P/25) was prepared. In this case, D.N.A. report (Ex.P-26) was received from the State Forensic Science Laboratory. 15.Both the mother (PW-1) and the father (PW-2) of the victim have stated that the victim is mentally weak, unable to speak and has poor hearing. The medical examination of the victim in this regard was on 13.07.2021 at the Government Hospital Medical College, Ambikapur by Psychiatrist Dr. Sandeep Tammineedi (PW-5). He also found in his examination that the victim was mentally unwell since childhood and is not capable of giving a statement. He has given a report of (Ex.P-7A) in this regard. The victim appeared in the Court as a witness. An attempt was made to examine the victim (PW-9) through an expert teacher, but the victim could not tell any fact, she only pointed towards her private parts. From this, it is clear that the victim is mentally unwell and she is not capable of giving a statement. 16. The Supreme Court in the matter of Rai Sandeep @ Deenu v. State of NCT of Delhi, 2012 (8) SCC 21 held as under:- “22. In our considered opinion, the ‘sterling witness’ should be of a very high quality and caliber whose version should, therefore, be unassailable. The Court considering the version of such witness should be in a position to accept it for its face value without any hesitation. To test the quality of such a witness, the status of the witness would be immaterial and what would be relevant is the truthfulness of the statement made by such a witness. What would be more relevant would be the consistency of the statement right from the starting point till the end, namely, at the time when the witness makes the initial statement and ultimately before the Court. It should be natural and consistent with the case of the prosecution qua the accused. There should not be any 8 prevarication in the version of such a witness. The witness should be in a position to withstand the cross-examination of any length and howsoever strenuous it may be and under no circumstance should give room for any doubt as to the factum of the occurrence, the persons involved, as well as, the sequence of it. Such a version should have co-relation with each and everyone of other supporting material such as the recoveries made, the weapons used, the manner of offence committed, the scientific evidence and the expert opinion. The said version should consistently match with the version of every other witness. It can even be stated that it should be akin to the test applied in the case of circumstantial evidence where there should not be any missing link in the chain of circumstances to hold the accused guilty of the offence alleged against him. Only if the version of such a witness qualifies the above test as well as all other similar such tests to be applied, it can be held that such a witness can be called as a ‘sterling witness’ whose version can be accepted by the Court without any corroboration and based on which the guilty can be punished. To be more precise, the version of the said witness on the core spectrum of the crime should remain intact while all other attendant materials, namely, oral, documentary and material objects should match the said version in material particulars in order to enable the Court trying the offence to rely on the core version to sieve the other supporting materials for holding the offender guilty of the charge alleged.” 17. When considering the evidence of a victim subjected to a sexual offence, the Court does not necessarily demand an almost accurate account of the incident. Instead, the emphasis is on allowing the victim to provide her version based on her recollection of events, to the extent reasonably possible for her to recollect. If the Court deems such evidence credible and free from doubt, there is hardly any insistence on corroboration of 9 that version. In State of H.P. v. Shree Kant Shekar (2004) 8 SCC 153 the Hon‟ble Supreme Court held as follows:“ “21. It is well settled that a prosecutrix complaining of having been a victim of the offence of rape is not an accomplice after the crime. There is no rule of law that her testimony cannot be acted without corroboration in material particulars. She stands on a higher pedestal than an injured witness. In the latter case, there is injury on the physical form, while in the former it is physical as well as psychological and emotional. However, if the court on facts finds it difÏcult to accept the version of the prosecutrix on its face value, it may search for evidence, direct or circumstantial, which would lend assurance to her testimony. Assurance, short of corroboration, as understood in the context of an accomplice, would sufÏce.” 18.Considering the statement of the mother (PW-01) of the prosecutrix/victim who has specifically stated the act of the present appellant, the statement of Dr. Barkha Jaiswal (PW-4) who examined the victim and gave her medical report (Ex.P-6), further considering the statement of the mother of the prosecutrix/victim recorded under Section 164 Cr.P.C (Ex.P-17), FSL report (Ex.P-22) and DNA report (Ex.P-26) in which it is established that the accused had committed sexual intercourse with the victim, the material available on record and the principle of law laid down by the Supreme Court in the above-stated judgments, I am of the considered opinion that learned trial Court Judge has rightly convicted the appellant for offence under Sections 450 and 376(2)(I) of the IPC. I do not find any illegality and irregularity in the findings recorded by the trial Court. 19.In the result, this Court comes to the conclusion that the prosecution has succeeded in proving its case beyond all reasonable doubts against the 10 appellant. The conviction and sentence as awarded by the Additional Sessions Judge to the appellant is hereby upheld. The present criminal appeal lacks merit and is accordingly dismissed. 20. It is stated at the Bar that the appellant is in jail. He shall serve out the sentence as ordered by the trial Court. 21. The Registry is directed to transmit the certified copy of this judgment along with the record to the trial Court concerned for necessary information and compliance. 22. Registry is directed to send a copy of this judgment to the concerned Superintendent of Jail where the appellant is undergoing his jail term, to serve the same on the appellant informing him that he is at liberty to assail the present judgment passed by this Court by preferring an appeal before the Hon’ble Supreme Court with the assistance of the High Court Legal Services Committee or the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee. Sd/- (Ramesh Sinha) Chief Justice Preeti