The Delhi HC on Monday affirmed a father-uncle duo convicted for sodomising the minor daughter of one of the accused but absolved them of gang rape reasoning that there was no penile-vaginal penetration, a prerequisite for rape charge under the unamended Section 375 of Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The court awarded the duo life imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 10,000. The court made a scathing observation during the hearing adding that while sexual violence against minors is always abhorrent, it slides into depravity and has elements of sin when it happens within the father-daughter relationship.
A Bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Anup Jairam Bhambhani was hearing an appeal filed by the accused against a trial court order that convicted them of offences under Sections 376(2)(g) (gang-rape) and 377 (sodomy) read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code for raping a minor girl.
As per court documents, the victim used to live with her aunt. Then, during the summer vacations in 2012, her father brought her home and together with his brother, i.e the minor child’s uncle, committed sodomy upon her. The crime continued till July 2012, the court was informed.
The incident came to the fore when the girl confided her ordeal to her teacher, following which a complaint was filed against the accused and both of them were arrested and convicted by the trial court for gang rape and sodomy.
While the High Court upheld the count of sodomy, it struck down the trial court’s verdict on gang rape, citing the grounds that the requirement of penetration is necessary to be charged for rape under the un-amended Section 375.
The court said the expanded definition of rape as in the amended Section 375 (with retrospective effect from February 2013) did not exist in the statute books at the time of the commission of the present offence and therefore, the two men cannot be charged with the same.
