Rape Victim Turns Hostile But Court Relies On Witnesses & Medical Evidence To Sentence Man To 10 Yrs. Rigorous Imprisonment

Maharashtra’s District court recently relied on the deposition of prosecution witnesses and medical evidence to convict a 42-year-old man for raping his 18-year-old niece, even though she turned hostile, and sentenced him to rigorous imprisonment for 10 years.

The prosecution stated that the District and Sessions Court Judge Rachna Tehra also imposed a fine of ₹6,000 on the man after convicting him under sections 376 (Punishment for rape) and 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of IPC.

The Court passed the order on Monday (March 27).

Therefore, the Judge said that the prosecution has successfully proved all the charges against the accused who need to be convicted & sentenced.

Additional Public Prosecutor Vinit A Kulkarni told the court’s victim that when she was 18 when she was raped by her uncle in Oct 2019, was an orphan & had been staying at an orphanage in Mumbra town in Thane district before she was sent to her uncle’s house.

The court was told that the accused used to touch the complainant repeatedly and made advances. She was repeatedly molested & raped by her uncle in Oct 2019 who threatened her against disclosing the incident.

Later, The girl confided in her friend & also talked about her ordeal with officials of the orphanage, following which a case was lodged against the accused & he was arrested.
The prosecution examined 4 witnesses during the trial though the victim turned hostile.