Girl Voluntarily Accompanying A Known Person Doesn’t Mean She Consents To Have Sex With Him: Himachal Pradesh HC [Read Judgment]

Instead of criticising the prosecutrix, the learned trial judge should have taken into consideration such unbecoming behaviour of the said accused, the court observed.

Convicting nine persons accused of raping a girl, the Himachal Pradesh High Court has observed that a girl voluntarily accompanying a known person does not imply that she was a consenting party to have sexual intercourse with such person.

The high court was considering an appeal against a trial court judgment acquitting nine persons accused of raping a girl. Before the trial court, it was contented that the accused were implicated falsely in the case since they failed to pay money she demanded from each of them.

The incident occurred in 1989, and the high court in 2008 had set aside the judgment acquitting the accused and remanded the case for fresh trial. But the trial court again acquitted the accused, observing that it was a consensual act of intercourse.

“When she never consented to accompany other accused persons and even for the commission of sexual intercourse with her by accused Vijay, therefore, it is established that she objected to and resisted such ghastly act committed upon her by the accused persons,” a bench comprising Justice Dharam Chand Chaudhary and Justice Vivek Singh Thakur said.

“The accused, who being locals and considered by her to be of some help to her, have taken undue advantage of her loneliness and they also subjected her to sexual intercourse,” the court observed rejecting the contention of the accused.

The court added that even a woman of easy virtue, and for that matter a prostitute, cannot also be subjected to sexual intercourse against her will and without her consent.

Read the Judgment here.