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State of Madhya Pradesh v. Preetam

Criminal Appeal · 2018 INSC 757Decided 29 Aug 2018
Criminal Appeal No. 2229 of 2011
Justice R. Banumathi · Justice Vineet Saran

Background

A 12-year-old girl was allegedly raped in 1993 while returning from a field. The trial court convicted the accused under Section 376 IPC and sentenced him to seven years' imprisonment, relying on medical evidence and eyewitness testimony. The High Court of Madhya Pradesh, on appeal, reversed the conviction and acquitted the accused, reasoning that the absence of external injuries suggested consent and that there was a delay in lodging the FIR. The State then appealed to the Supreme Court against this acquittal.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the absence of external injury does not, by itself, imply consent, and that the medical and eyewitness evidence (including the victim's torn hymen, a witness who saw the accused fleeing the scene, and school records showing the victim was only about 12 years old) fully supported the prosecution's case. Since the victim was under 16, her consent was legally irrelevant to the offence under the then-applicable Section 375 IPC. The Court also found the delay in filing the FIR properly explained, given that the family member who lodged the complaint was away from the village. The Court restored the trial court's conviction but, considering that about 25 years had passed since the offence, reduced the sentence from seven years to four years.

Lesson Learnt

In sexual assault cases, especially involving minors, the absence of visible physical injury does not automatically prove consent, and courts must weigh medical evidence, eyewitness accounts, and documentary proof of age (such as school records) together rather than isolating one factor to overturn a conviction.

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

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