Tamil Nadu: 3 acquitted, two get 20-year jail in rape case

MADURAI: The Madras high court has confirmed the conviction of two people and acquitted three others in a case of abduction and sexual assault of a minor girl in Sivaganga district in 2018.
The court was hearing the criminal appeals preferred by Pandi, Selvam, Prabhakar, Sulaiman and Chiranjeevi challenging the conviction and sentence by the Madurai mahila court.
In February 2018, the five people abducted a 16-year-old girl in a car, took her to a coconut grove and sexually assaulted her. After she was let go she returned to her house and informed her mother. Police registered a case and arrested the appellants.
In 2019, the trial court had convicted all the five. Pandi and Selvam were sentenced to life imprisonment, Prabhakar and Sulaiman to 25 years jail and Chiranjeevi got 20 years imprisonment.
A division bench of justice G Jayachandran and justice. Sunder Mohan observed that the victim had consistently stated that Pandi and Selvam had committed penetrative sexual assault on her and they were known to her. Hence, the court has no hesitation to hold the two guilty of the offence.
The name of Prabhakar was neither seen in the complaint nor identified by the victim. The girl had mentioned his name only during her deposition before the trial court. Sulaiman's name too was not mentioned in the complaint and she did not identify him before the trial court. However, she identified him during the subsequent identification parade.
The charge against Chiranjeevi is that he drove the car and allegedly abetted the crime. The victim had not named him in the FIR and the statement which was given before the magistrate. She could not identify him, observed the judges.
The judges observed that the statement of the victim regarding the involvement of Prabhakar, Sulaiman and Chiranjeevi is highly doubtful. Hence, the judges acquitted them. The judges also modified the conviction of Pandi and Selvam, to that of 20 years imprisonment.