Uttarakhand HC overturns 20-year sentence in ‘gang rape of mentally ill woman’, cites forensic lapses

DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand high court (HC) has overturned a 20-year sentence awarded by a lower court in a 2018 case involving the alleged gang rape of a mentally ill woman in Haldwani, citing serious lapses in the handling and preservation of forensic evidence.

The case relates to an incident reported on March 7, 2018, in Haldwani's Banphulpura area. According to the prosecution, the woman went missing and was later found in a distressed condition near a petrol pump. Her family alleged that she had been abducted and sexually assaulted by two men, following which a case was registered against them on charges of gang rape and abduction.

One of the accused was convicted by the Haldwani additional sessions court in 2019 for rape and abduction and sentenced to 20 years in prison, while the other was convicted only for abduction and spent four years in jail. Both later filed separate criminal appeals challenging the trial court's order.

After examining the evidence, a division bench of Justice Ravindra Maithani and Justice Ashish Naithani observed on Saturday that the prosecution had failed to prove the rape charge beyond reasonable doubt and acquitted the man sentenced to 20 years. The court noted serious inconsistencies in the forensic evidence, observing that the chain of custody of seized clothes and other samples was not properly maintained. "The prosecution also failed to establish that the samples were securely preserved before being sent for forensic examination," it added.

The court clarified that intellectual disability does not imply consent, and a person incapable of understanding the nature and consequences of an act cannot legally give valid consent. However, in this case, the judges found no conclusive scientific or corroborative evidence linking the accused to the alleged rape. The bench said, "Convictions in serious offences must be based on reliable scientific evidence, and in its absence, the benefit of doubt must go to the accused." While setting aside the rape conviction, the court upheld the findings related to abduction.