‘Complainant’s testimony is enough to convict accused’
Judge makes pertinent point while invoking amended IPC section for first time; says when victim’s evidence has stood ‘like a rock’, there’s no need for corroborative evidence.
The Mumbai Sessions Court has praised the photojournalist victim and her companion in the Shakti Mills gang rape case, for standing by each other not only during the incident but during the trial as well.
Principal Sessions Judge Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi, who awarded the death sentence for three ‘repeat convicts’ last week, observed that there was no need for any corroborative evidence as the victim’s testimony “clinched the fate of the case”.
The three repeat rapists were sentenced to death by the court which invoked, for the first time, an amended IPC section that allowed capital punishment for a repeat convict of gang rape even without death of the victim. The amendment came into force after the brutal Delhi gangrape case in December 2012.
The three repeat rapists were given capital punishment in the gang-rape of the photojournalist, after they were sentenced to life imprisonment for rape of a telephone operator, also at Shakti Mills, earlier in July.
Calling it a sentence in the larger public interest, the court observed, “There is no other alternative left in this case except to impose the death penalty, in the larger public interest and to maintain integrity of human dignity.”
Referring to the victim’s colleague who accompanied her that fateful day, the 232-page judgment said, “How can he run away when his female colleague is held and he was hearing her scream? Both the victim and her colleague wasted no time in lodging a complaint with the police.
Her colleague, in supporting her during the entire endeavour, also needs to be encouraged and appreciated.”
The observations came while rejecting the defence’s argument that the colleague’s legs were not tied and he could have run. The defence also submitted that as the colleague had not run away, he must have had sexual intercourse with the victim. But the court observed, “The defence is maligning them which is absolutely ridiculous.”
Making observations on the victim’s evidence, the judge said the defence was not able to discredit her, despite the exhaustive cross-examination. “When her evidence has stood like a rock, there’s no need for corroborative evidence,” the court said. Making repeated reference to “the collective conscience of society”, the court observed that the fact that this happened “even before the uproar and anguish created by the Nirbhaya incident in Delhi had calmed down, was beyond the toleration and understanding of society”.
The court expressed shock over the fact that despite stringent laws being made “youths are repeatedly indulging in barbaric, inhuman offences, having least regard to the sanctity of human life and individual dignity, thus totally defying law and order”.
Apart from oral testimonies of the victim and other witnesses, there were other factors the court took into consideration. In one instance, after all five accused had raped the photojournalist, as she pleaded with one of them - Mohamed Kasim - to let her go, he laughed and told her, “Aapko maloom nahin main kitna harami hoon. Aap pehli ladki nahin ho jispar humne rape kiya hai. Humne kai ladkiyon pe yahan rape kiya hai. Kisine humko pakda nahi.” The court observed that this was a sort of “extra judicial confession” made by the accused.
This, along with other call data records, went on to prove that all the accused had hatched a criminal conspiracy to accost girls when they came to deserted places - as happened in this case - and then subject them to the most gruesome form of sexual assault. “To expect society to be a silent spectator to this kind of depraved behaviour, and to continue to extend its protective arms to convicts would be both unnatural and ridiculous. Here the exemplary and ‘rarest of rare’ punishment is required,” the court declared while awarding the death penalty.
The Mumbai Sessions Court has praised the photojournalist victim and her companion in the Shakti Mills gang rape case, for standing by each other not only during the incident but during the trial as well.
Principal Sessions Judge Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi, who awarded the death sentence for three ‘repeat convicts’ last week, observed that there was no need for any corroborative evidence as the victim’s testimony “clinched the fate of the case”.
While the incident had occurred in August 2013, the accused were convicted on March 20, 2014, and the sentence was passed on April 4. A copy of the judgment was made available to the guilty on Thursday.
The three repeat rapists were sentenced to death by the court which invoked, for the first time, an amended IPC section that allowed capital punishment for a repeat convict of gang rape even without death of the victim. The amendment came into force after the brutal Delhi gangrape case in December 2012.
The three repeat rapists were given capital punishment in the gang-rape of the photojournalist, after they were sentenced to life imprisonment for rape of a telephone operator, also at Shakti Mills, earlier in July.
Calling it a sentence in the larger public interest, the court observed, “There is no other alternative left in this case except to impose the death penalty, in the larger public interest and to maintain integrity of human dignity.”
Referring to the victim’s colleague who accompanied her that fateful day, the 232-page judgment said, “How can he run away when his female colleague is held and he was hearing her scream? Both the victim and her colleague wasted no time in lodging a complaint with the police.
Her colleague, in supporting her during the entire endeavour, also needs to be encouraged and appreciated.”
The observations came while rejecting the defence’s argument that the colleague’s legs were not tied and he could have run. The defence also submitted that as the colleague had not run away, he must have had sexual intercourse with the victim. But the court observed, “The defence is maligning them which is absolutely ridiculous.”
Making observations on the victim’s evidence, the judge said the defence was not able to discredit her, despite the exhaustive cross-examination. “When her evidence has stood like a rock, there’s no need for corroborative evidence,” the court said. Making repeated reference to “the collective conscience of society”, the court observed that the fact that this happened “even before the uproar and anguish created by the Nirbhaya incident in Delhi had calmed down, was beyond the toleration and understanding of society”.
The court expressed shock over the fact that despite stringent laws being made “youths are repeatedly indulging in barbaric, inhuman offences, having least regard to the sanctity of human life and individual dignity, thus totally defying law and order”.
Apart from oral testimonies of the victim and other witnesses, there were other factors the court took into consideration. In one instance, after all five accused had raped the photojournalist, as she pleaded with one of them - Mohamed Kasim - to let her go, he laughed and told her, “Aapko maloom nahin main kitna harami hoon. Aap pehli ladki nahin ho jispar humne rape kiya hai. Humne kai ladkiyon pe yahan rape kiya hai. Kisine humko pakda nahi.” The court observed that this was a sort of “extra judicial confession” made by the accused.
This, along with other call data records, went on to prove that all the accused had hatched a criminal conspiracy to accost girls when they came to deserted places - as happened in this case - and then subject them to the most gruesome form of sexual assault. “To expect society to be a silent spectator to this kind of depraved behaviour, and to continue to extend its protective arms to convicts would be both unnatural and ridiculous. Here the exemplary and ‘rarest of rare’ punishment is required,” the court declared while awarding the death penalty.
