The alleged offence took place in 1999. A man entered a woman's house at night and allegedly tried to rape her. 26 years later, the court has said that a rape case is not made out. The court modified the charge to outraging the modesty of a woman.
The Jharkhand High Court has held that merely entering a woman's house at night and lifting her clothes would not amount to commission of rape or an attempt to commit rape as per the Indian Penal Code.
The High Court, while hearing the appeal of a convict in a 26-year-old matter, modified the lower court's decision, making it a case of outraging the modesty of a woman and use of criminal force, from the earlier rape charge.
Justice Pradeep Kumar Srivastava observed that "a specific overt act sufficiently proximate to commission of rape will not constitute an attempt to commit rape as per the Indian Penal Code."
An overt act is a real, physical step taken to move forward the plan to commit a crime.
The convict challenged his sentence passed by a Sessions Court on July 25, 2006, sentencing him to undergo four years of rigorous imprisonment.
In its order, the High Court stated that an examination of the victim's testimony reveals no specific overt act on the part of the accused that could be construed as a step taken towards committing rape.
However, the court also acknowledged that the accused's conduct was obscene and objectionable, likely to outrage the woman's modesty.
The High Court, while modifying the sentence, ordered that since the appellant had already undergone about eight months of custody during the trial, it would be sufficient to meet the ends of justice.
The convict was arrested by the police after an FIR was registered on December 27, 1999. The victim had alleged that the appellant had entered her house on the previous night and tried to lift her clothes to rape her.
The police investigation found the appellant guilty of "attempt to commit rape". Subsequently, the trial court convicted and sentenced him to undergo imprisonment of four years.
