Chhattisgarh HC rejects insanity plea of ​​man accused of raping 6-year-old girl

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Summary

The Chhattisgarh High Court, in a recent judgment, has rejected the insanity plea of ​​an accused who allegedly raped a six-year-old girl. The court upheld the conviction of the accused on the ground that he was of sound mind and capable of understanding his actions at the time of committing the offence.

The court, chaired by Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha And Judge Sachin Singh Rajputnoted that “Accused persons cannot be exonerated from charges in specific offences under the POCSO Act, 2012 on the ground of mere insanity. The doctrine of proving exceptions beyond reasonable doubt must prevail.”

The court made this observation on an appeal filed by the accused against the conviction of the Additional Judge of the Fast Track Special Court (POCSO) at Rajnandgaon, who convicted him under Section 376AB of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 5(m) read with Section 6 of the POCSO Act, which resulted in a term of imprisonment for life until natural death, a fine of Rs 20,000 and an additional year of imprisonment for default.

On November 5, 2020, the accused allegedly raped a six-year-old girl in his house. The victim stated that the accused raped her. She described the incident in detail and mentioned that the accused took her to his house on the pretext of giving her guava and then committed the act. The incident was witnessed by the victim’s aunt and other children who reported it to the victim’s parents and the police, which led to the arrest of the accused. The sexual assault was further confirmed by a medical examination.

The court examined the core question, whether the accused/appellant was suffering from mental illness at the time the offence was committed? stated that “The applicant is capable of recognising the seriousness of the charges against him and of his criminal responsibility and also has a sense of guilt.”

Based on the testimony of the psychiatrist and the prison director, the court found: “The defendant’s daily activities are natural and normal and show no abnormalities,” with the finding that the accused is capable of taking care of himself and “He bathes, goes to the toilet, wears his own clothes, eats his own food and keeps himself clean.”

The accused, represented by advocate Pushpendra Kumar Patel, claimed that he was falsely accused and that the victim was not a minor. However, the court found that the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the victim was a minor and the accused had committed the crime. The court found that “The court correctly decided that the victim’s date of birth was May 29, 2014 and that on the day of the incident, November 5, 2020, she was a minor and 6 years, 5 months and 6 days old.”

The court declared “The prosecution succeeded in proving its arguments beyond doubt and the court made no legal or factual errors in its finding regarding the guilt of the accused/convicted person,” Confirmation of the conviction and sentence by the Court of First Instance, rejection of the appellant’s plea of ​​insanity.

Finally, the court found that “The appeal is unfounded and can therefore be rejected. dismissed.”

Title of the case: XYZ v. State of Chhattisgarh (CRA No. 375 of 2024)