"He Suffered From Schizophrenia": MP High Court Upholds Acquittal Of Man Accused Of Outraging 10-Yr-Old Modesty

Observing that the accused was suffering from 'Schizophrenia' at the time of the incident, the Madhya Pradesh High Court recently upheld the acquittal order passed in favour of a POCSO Accused was liable to be upheld but modified the reason of his acquittal 

With this, the Court dismissed an appeal filed by the State against his acquittal order, in which the accused was absolved of the charges of outraging a 10-year-old Girl's modesty.

The Bench of Justice Subodh Abhyankar, however, noted that the trial Court had erred in holding that the respondent's mental state was normal even though it was correct in acquitting him of the charges.

Significantly, the trial court had ruled out the presence of mens-rea by underscoring that the accused did not try to run away from the spot. This view was, however, rejected by the High Court as it noted that the accused was suffering from the mental disorder Schizophrenia since a long time

The case in brief

The Court was hearing an application for leave to appeal filed by the State against the order passed by Special Judge, Indore, District Indore, whereby, the respondent/accused had been acquitted of the charges under Sections 354 of IPC and Sections 7/8 of the POCSO Act.

The allegation against him was that on July 11, 2018, at about 9.30 PM, he caressed on the back of the victim, a girl aged around 10 years and thus, tried to outrage her modesty.

The Judge of the Trial Court had, after recording the evidence and appreciating the same, acquitted him on the ground that the accused did not try to run away from the spot soon after the incident and also did not object to the thrashing given to him by the bystanders.

Also, the trial Court, in its order and judgment, also recorded that on the date of the incident, he was normal and was not suffering from any mental disorder

High Court's observations

At the outset, the Court observed that it was apparent that the accused acted in a strange manner, showed no emotions at the time of the incident but, the court added, such behaviour in itself cannot be a reason to acquit the respondent.

Thereafter, the Court perused the certificate issued by the Medical Board of M.Y.H.Hospital in July 2019, which was signed by three doctors, wherein, it was clearly mentioned that the respondent was suffering from Schizophrenia and that he would require long term treatment and follow-up.

Therefore, the Court came to the conclusion that the respondent/accused was in a state of delusion at the time of the incident and for this reason alone, he did not act normally when the incident took place

In view of the aforesaid discussion, the Court observed thus:

"...the learned judge of the Trial Court has erred in holding that the respondent's mental state was normal; it is also found that the conclusion, that the respondent did not try to run away from the spot shows his lack of mense rea is also not correct as it is found by this court that the respondent was suffering from mental disorder Schizophrenia since a long time"

In view of the same, the Court noted that the finding of acquittal of the trial court was correct but for all the wrong reasons assigned to record such finding.

Thus, the impugned judgement was modified to the extent that the respondent was mentally challenged at the time of the incident and his behaviour of showing no emotions at all, at the time and place of the incident was owing to his mental condition only and not because of his lack of mense rea.

Case title - State of Madhya Pradesh Vs. Raghunath

Click Here To Download Order

Read Order