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Om Prakash v. State of Haryana

Criminal Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Criminal Appeal No. 807 of 2010)Decided 14 Oct 2014
Criminal Appeal No. 807 of 2010
Justice Sudhansu Jyoti Mukhopadhaya · Justice Prafulla C. Pant

Background

A fifteen-year-old girl said that Chhoti sent her to collect a drink from Chhoti's house, where Om Prakash and Kartar Singh confined and raped her. Threatened by the men, she reported the attack after her mother returned twenty days later. The trial court convicted the men of gang rape and Chhoti of intentionally helping the offence, and the High Court upheld their convictions and sentences.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court dismissed all three appeals and directed that the appellants be taken into custody to serve their remaining sentences. It found the victim's account reliable and accepted the explanation for the reporting delay; the evidence also established that she was under sixteen. Chhoti's conviction rested on her positive role in bringing the victim to the house for the attack, rather than a mere failure to intervene. The Court retained the men's ten-year prison terms and Chhoti's three-year term, together with the fines imposed below.

Lesson Learnt

A delayed report of sexual assault must be assessed in its circumstances, including threats and the victim's opportunity to confide in someone. Intentionally arranging the circumstances of an assault can establish abetment even when the helper does not personally commit the principal offence.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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