Ranchi, Sep 7 (PTI) The Jharkhand High Court has held that merely entering a woman’s house at night and lifting her clothes would not amount to commission of rape or an attempt to commit rape as per the Indian Penal Code.
The high court, while hearing the appeal of a convict in a 26-year-old matter, modified the lower court’s decision, making it a case of outraging the modesty of a woman and use of criminal force, from the earlier rape.
Justice Pradeep Kumar Srivastava observed that “a specific overt act sufficiently proximate to commission of rape will not constitute an attempt to commit rape as per the Indian Penal Code.” An overt act is a real, physical step taken to move forward the plan to commit a crime.
The judgment was passed on August 31 and released on Monday.
The convict challenged his sentence passed by a Ghatshila Sessions Court on July 25, 2006, sentencing him to undergo four years of rigorous imprisonment.
The high court, while modifying the sentence, ordered that since the appellant had already undergone about eight months of custody during the trial, it would be sufficient to meet the ends of justice.
The convict was arrested by the Chakulia police after an FIR was registered on December 27, 1999. The victim had alleged that the appellant had entered her house on the previous night and tried to lift her clothes to rape her.
The police commenced the investigation and found the appellant guilty of “attempt to commit rape” and presented the chargesheet. Subsequently, the trial court convicted and sentenced him to undergo imprisonment of four years. PTI COR NAM NN
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