Chhattisgarh HC upholds life term, affirms testimony of deaf-mute rape survivor
Bilaspur HC upholds conviction, calls survivor’s testimony reliable
Bilaspur | Correspondent: Upholding human sensibilities and the principles of justice as paramount, the Chhattisgarh High Court, in a significant verdict, has declared the testimony of a deaf-mute young woman a victim of sexual assault to be entirely valid and credible. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Ravindra Kumar Agarwal dismissed the accused's appeal, thereby upholding the sentence of 'life imprisonment until natural death' handed down to the convict by the trial court.
A noteworthy aspect of this case was that the trial court, taking into account the victim's physical disability, adopted a special demonstrative method to record her statement, utilizing the assistance of a plastic doll and a trained interpreter. The High Court deemed this technique to be a proper and just method of gathering evidence.
In its order, the Court explicitly stated that merely because a witness cannot speak or hear, their testimony can neither be dismissed nor can their credibility be called into question.
According to the details of the case, the victim was raped in July 2020 by a close relative of her own. When the victim's mother returned home from work, she found her daughter in a state of extreme distress and weeping.
The victim immediately identified the accused through gestures and conveyed details regarding the incident. During the investigation, her statement was recorded with the assistance of a sign language expert; these statements were subsequently found to be in complete consonance with the details provided in the FIR and during the trial proceedings.
During the hearings, the defense counsel argued that the trial court's verdict was contrary to both the law and the facts, contending that a conviction could not be secured solely based on the victim's testimony.
However, the High Court categorically rejected these arguments, observing that the victim was mentally fully competent and had communicated the details of the incident with absolute clarity.
The Court further clarified that in cases involving sexual offenses, if the survivor's testimony remains unshaken and inspires confidence, a conviction can be secured solely based on that testimony. The Court held that the trial court had correctly evaluated the evidence and that there is no need to interfere in this matter.
