Srinagar: The High Court Wednesday dismissed a bail plea of a man accused of “raping” a minor girl last year.
Dismissing the plea, a bench of Justice Javed Iqbal Wani said that the delay in registration of FIR in a rape case could not be said to be of much significance “as the victim has to muster the courage to come out in open and expose herself in a conservative social milieu”.
The prosecution case is that on August 23 last year, the victim accompanied by her father filed a written complaint with the Police Station Pantha Chowk stating that on the evening of August 20, 2021, she along with her mother went to attend the Muharram procession and due to a huge gathering and rush of the people got separated from her mother.
Taking advantage of this and darkness, she was kidnapped by two persons, Mubarak Ali Wani and Majid Ahmad Sofi, both residents of Balhama, Srinagar.
The victim later said she was taken to an unknown place and was made unconscious by forcing her to take a drink and thereafter “rape was committed upon her”.
The next morning, the prosecution said, on regaining consciousness, she saw her clothes stained with blood.
“She thereafter went to her friend’s home where her parents also came and she narrated the entire incident to them,” the prosecution said.
During the investigation, a medical examination is said to have been conducted on the victim, and samples were subsequently sent to FSL for expert opinion.
Besides, the prosecution contends, statements of the witnesses were recorded as also statements of the victim under Section 164 CrPC.
The prosecution says that the victim is 15-years-old (minor) and upon completion of the investigation, offences under Section 363 and 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 3/4 of the POCSO Act were found to have been made out against the accused persons.
“Besides offences under Section 363 of the IPC and Section 17 of the POCSO Act were found to have been made against the accused Mubarak Ali,” the prosecution said.
After hearing the parties, the court rejected the plea by the accused that the medical opinion had not categorically opined about the happening of the alleged intercourse with the victim.
“The issue will be gone into by the trial court while taking into account any other corroborative evidence, more so given settled law that whether rape has occurred or not is a legal conclusion and not a medical one,” the court said.