: Victims cannot be expected to state facts in a “parrot-like manner” and minor contradictions are bound to happen after a lapse of time, a court here said while sending four men to jail in a molestation case.
Additional Sessions Judge Sanjiv Jain sent the men, all Delhi residents, to one-year rigorous imprisonment for molesting, threatening and voluntarily causing hurt to the victim.
According to the prosecution, the convicts -- Tukun Das, Pawan Kumar, Vinod Kumar and Dev Kant Giri, who were the woman’s neighbours— had entered her house when she was alone and abused her physically and verbally.
‘Quarrel sparked assault’
It said there had been a quarrel between the woman and Vinod before this incident, which resulted into the registration of a complaint against him by the victim. Infuriated by this, Vinod assaulted the woman along with the others.
Rejecting the argument about there being discrepancies in the woman’s testimony, the judge said, “The victim of such an incident cannot be expected to possess photographic memory and to state the facts in a parrot-like manner.
“Minor contradictions are bound to happen if the witness is examined after a lapse of time. No credence can be given to these minor contradictions if they do not go to the root of the matter and create suspicion as to the veracity of the incident.”
The court said there was enough circumstantial evidence against the men to prove their complicity in the commission of the offence, adding that the complainant remained “consistent and cogent” and her testimony was of “sterling quality”.
“Facts and circumstances clearly show that all accused persons assaulted and used criminal force on her to outrage her modesty. They gagged her mouth and tore her clothes,” the judge said while holding the men guilty.
Fine imposed
Besides the jail term, the court imposed a fine of Rs. 10,000 on each of the convicts, with a direction that out of the total amount, Rs. 30,000 be given to the victim. — PTI
