15 years after alleged rape, man convicted only for cheating; will pay Rs 1 lakh fi ne

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru:

A person who was charged with rape and cheating for the alleged crime committed in the year 2007, has been convicted for the latter and acquitted of the former charge by the High Court of Karnataka. He will however pay a fine of Rs 1 lakh that will be given to the child of the woman whom he cheated and not serve any prison sentence.

The Sessions court had acquitted him of both the charges in 2015. The Hunsur rural police had approached the High Court with an appeal against the acquittal of a man charged under Sections 376 (Rape) and Section 417 (Cheating) of the IPC. The victim had filed a complaint in 2009 that in 2007 the accused had raped her.

However, the Sessions court found that both were adults who were having sex regularly. It was when she became pregnant and the accused did not accept responsibility that the complaint was filed. A child was born to the victim because of this relationship. The accused however was already married to someone else.

He had prevented the marriage of the victim to another person earlier and promised to marry her. However, he did not oblige. The HC upheld the acquittal of the accused under the charges of rape. “She has stated in the examination-in-chief that she showed resistance on the first day and it was a forcible intercourse.

But her testimony is difficult to be believed for the reason that in the cross-examination she has clearly stated that she never brought to the notice of that incident to anybody in the village. Her clear answers are that she used to meet the accused once in 15 days. They both went to Hunsur and had sexual intercourse in the corridor of the college.

She has stated that the accused had intercourse once with her in his house. So the entire evidence of PW.1 (victim) indicates that she participated in the sexual intercourse voluntarily with the accused.” However, the HC said that the accused was guilty of cheating the victim. “It has come in evidence that the accused stopped the marriage of PW.1 with Shankara (witness) has clearly stated that victim and the accused used to publicly proclaim that they were going to marry.

From this evidence, clear inference can be drawn that the accused might have promised to marry her and thereafter he went back upon his promise. Looked in this view, a clear case of offence under Section 417 Indian Penal Code (IPC) is established. Therefore we find a case for modifying the judgement of the trial court,” the High Court said. The accused was sentenced to undergo one-year imprisonment and pay a fine of Rs 1 lakh for cheating.

But considering that he was married with little children, the court set off the one year sentence to the one month in jail he had spent in 2009. However, he will pay the fine that will be given to the victim’s child. The division bench of Justice Sreenivas Harish Kumar and Justice TG Shivashankare Gowda in their judgement, said, “It is not in dispute that the victim gave birth to a baby because of her relationship with the accused. Therefore, keeping in mind the welfare and requirement of the child, fine is to be imposed. We direct the entire fine amount to be paid to the child by way of compensation.”