Lack of injuries doesn’t rule out rape, says HC, denies bail

Mumbai: Denying bail to a man booked for raping a 17-year-old girl, Bombay

HC

recently said he cannot be given a clean chit just because there were no

injuries

on her body.
"Merely because the medical examination report does not explicitly describe any injuries on the body of the victim, it cannot be said the applicant can be given any certificate of innocence.

In fact, the medical report does conclude that

sexual assault

cannot be ruled out," said Justice Manish Pitale in a June 11 order.
The FIR said the girl had left home due to some reasons. The man found her crying, convinced her to go with him, took her to a hotel and forced himself on her, it said. The next day, he phoned her father and gave him a location to fetch her. After the girl narrated what happened, he was arrested on April 17, 2023.
The man's advocate said the allegations do not appear logical as he himself called the girl's father informing him about her. If he had indeed committed the alleged act, it was unnatural on his part to reach out to her father, said the advocate, adding that the medical report showed no physical injuries or signs of forced sex as claimed by the girl.

The judge said the girl's statement shows that when she was alone at a place away from her residence and in a disturbed mental state, the man approached her. After she joined him in his vehicle, he gave her water to drink and thereafter, she fell asleep. She described in "sufficient detail" what he did. "Although the victim herself has stated that the applicant called her father..., that in itself, cannot lead to any favourable conclusion for the applicant," said Justice Pitale.

He said it is not the man's case that he knew her or they had any relationship to indicate this could be the backdrop for consensual sex. "In a situation where a girl alone is taken advantage of by a married man like the applicant, the absence of physical injuries may not be relevant," he added.
Dismissing the bail petition, Justice Pitale said "the allegations are serious and the offences registered... are equally serious", including under Pocso Act.