Accused cannot be convicted of Rape on the basis of the sole testimony of Prosecutrix unless her testimony “STERLING” Quality

Aditi Reddy M | Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad | 18th February 2020

Santhosh Prasad Vs State of Bihar

Facts of the case:

• The prosecutrix had filed a complaint on her brother in law (who in this case is the appellant), on the night of 16.09.2011 alleging that he had raped her on the previous night and subsequently an FIR was registered on the accused in the Makhdumpur Police Station and the investigation was carried out. 
• On the conclusion of the investigation, the IP had filed a charge sheet against the brother in law under the section 376(1) and 450 of the IPC. The appellant had pleaded ignorance all through the proceedings. 
• The prosecution in this case examined eight witnesses along with the prosecutrix and the medical officer. And out of the 8 witnesses, three of them had not supported the case and so the prosecution has turned out to be hostile. 
• Subsequently the Trial Court sentenced the accused for 10 years of imprisonment for the offence of rape under section 376(1) of IPC and 7 years of imprisonments under section 450 of the IPC.
• The accused that appealed in the High court and the court had dismissed the appeal. Presently the matter is appealed in the Supreme Court. 

Held:

• The Supreme Court allowed the present criminal appealing and had acquitted all the charges against the accused saying that the version of the prosecutrix could not be taken as the absolute truth as in the absence of any other supporting evidence, henceforth there was scope to sustain the conviction of the Trial and the High Courts. The court infact opined that there were a lot of material contradictions in the evidence which was produced by the prosecutrix and such an evidence cannot be reliable upon to convict the accused.
• Also the court strongly sole testimony of the Prosecutrix was enough to convict an accused of Rape, the Court could not lose sight of the protection of the accused against false implication.
• “It cannot be lost sight of that rape causes the greatest distress and humiliation to the victim but at the same time a false allegation of rape can cause equal distress, humiliation and damage to the accused as well. The accused must also be protected against the possibility of false implication, particularly where a large number of accused are involved.”