A rape convict’s life sentence was reduced on Saturday by the Madhya Pradesh (MP) High Court after it was observed by the court that despite committing a horrible crime, the defendant was “kind enough” to spare the child’s life. Subsequently, the life sentence of the rape convict was reduced to 20 years by the high court’s Indore bench of Justice Subodh Abhyankar and Justice SK Singh.
Madhya Pradesh High Court says rape convict kind enough to leave survivor alive; reduces life sentence to 20 years’ jail
— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) October 22, 2022
report by @whattalawyer https://t.co/pJqfCJ8nbB
The court observed, “In such circumstances, this court does not find any error in appreciation of evidence by the trial court and considering the demonic act of the appellant, who appears to have no respect for the dignity of a woman and has the propensity to commit sexual offences even with a girl child aged four years, this court does not find it to be a fit case where the sentence can be reduced to the sentence already undergone by him.”
“However, considering the fact that he was kind enough to leave the prosecutrix alive, this court is of the opinion that life imprisonment can be reduced to 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment,” the bench added. “Accordingly, the criminal appeal is partly allowed and the appellant will be made to suffer the period of 20 years in accordance with the law,” it further added.
The accused contended in court that he had been falsely implicated in the case. He also stated that the prosecution did not present a chemical analysis report. As a result, he maintained that his sentence should be reduced because he had already served some time in jail. The police were found to be irresponsible by the High Court for failing to produce a chemical report despite the fact that the child’s vaginal smear was sent to a forensic laboratory.
In court, the defendant argued that he had been wrongly suspected of being involved in the altercation. He said that there was no chemical analysis report presented by the prosecution. He argued that since he had previously served some jail time, his sentence should be lowered. The child’s vaginal smear was submitted to a forensic laboratory, but the police were ruled negligent by the High Court for neglecting to produce a chemical report.
The judges argued that the court can simply not ignore other material that has been filed because of the report’s absence. In this specific case, they said, witness testimony and a medical examination provided sufficient evidence to establish the seriousness of the crime.
