Rape is a legal term, not a medical diagnosis – Bombay HC while affirming a man’s conviction for raping his minor niece.

Case: Atul Keshav @ Kiran Malekar v. State of Maharashtra

The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court recently affirmed a man's conviction for raping his minor niece, saying that rape is a legal term, not a medical diagnosis. 

During the appeal process, the convict argued that the medical report only stated that 'sexual assault' could not be ruled out, as well as that it did not directly state whether rape occurred. Justice Anil Kilor rejected this argument.

According to the judge, the statements of the medical witnesses and the medical evidence were sufficient to prove sexual activity.

As per the prosecution case, the victim, four years old was the niece of the appellant. When he was alone in the house with his niece on April 1, 2018, he allegedly raped her.

The mother of the victim noticed some injuries on the victim's private part. The victim narrated the incident that the appellant raped her after switching off the lights of the house and threatened her with dire consequences.

It was rejected by the Court that the accused had not penetrated the girl's private part and the offence of sexual assault or rape was not applicable.

As Justice Kilor noted in various Supreme Court judgments on this issue, penetration is an essential condition for an offence of rape, but it is not necessary that the penis must be fully penetrated to produce semen and rupture the hymen to commit an offence of rape.

Finally, the Bench rejected the appellant's contention that the victim's family delayed filing the First Information Report (FIR).

It was noted by the Bench that the mother had called her husband, who was in Nagpur and not at his Chandrapur district residence at the time, as soon as she learned about the incident from the victim. She further called her in-laws, the FIR was filed the next day.