Sexual assault probes: DGP to sensitise officers

Acquitting a man who was sentenced to undergo 10 years of rigorous imprisonment by the Tiruvannamalai Sessions Court for raping a woman owing to a shoddy probe undertaken by the inspector in the case, Justice M V Muralidharan said “It is seen from the records that the investigation conducted by an inspector of police is the root cause for the collapse of the prosecution.” He said the investigating officer had conducted the probe in a casual manner, and said “the faulty investigation and the conduct towards the victim soon after the occurrences of the incident have not inspired confidence in the case of the prosecution.”

The matter relates to the sexual assault of a woman by V Venkatesan on October 13, 2007 at her residence in Arani, after threatening her two younger sisters who were present in the house.

The trial court had handed down the sentence on August, 2013 by a lower court for the offences under IPC sections relating to trespass and sexual assault. Aggrieved over the conviction and sentence passed by the court, Venkatesan preferred the instant appeal in the high court. The counsel appearing for Venkatesan argued that the allegation made by the victim and the witness statements offered by the two sisters failed to corroborate.

On the other hand, the prosecution contended that the assault on the victim was not merely a crime against her but against the society and that the accused cannot take refuge from the contradictory witness statements provided by the victim’s sisters.

The Judge noted that the accused was arrested 11 months after the incident, and said the complaint was lodged by the victim on October 19, 2007 and her medical examination was done on October 31, all amounting to faulty investigation.