Dec 24, 2024 08:22 PM IST
The high court upheld the trial court’s decision to acquit Neelkanth of rape charges since the prime accused Nitin Yadav had already killed the girl
RAIPUR: Raping a dead body is one of the most horrendous crimes that one can think of but it does not constitute rape under the penal code in India, the Chhattisgarh high court has said in a December 10 ruling, rejecting an appeal by the mother of a nine-year-old Dalit girl who was raped and killed by two men.
In September 2023, the trial court sentenced Nitin Yadav, 23, to life imprisonment for the rape and murder of the girl in her house on November 18, 2018. Neelkanth, who helped him carry the little girl’s body to a nearby hill where she was buried, was sentenced to seven years in jail for tampering with evidence.
But the trial court let Neelkanth off the hook on rape charges, saying that the girl was already dead.
The girl’s mother appealed against Neelkanth’s acquittal on charges of rape.
A bench of chief justice Ramesh Sinha and justice Bibhu Dutta Guru acknowledged the horrifying nature of necrophilia but pointed out a crucial legal limitation.
“We concur with the reasoning and findings arrived at by the learned trial court in convicting and sentencing the appellants for the offences in question, and as such, both the criminal appeals stand dismissed.
“So far as appeal filed by the mother of the victim is concerned, there is no doubt that the offence committed by the accused Neelkanth Nagesh is one of the most horrendous crimes one can think of but the fact of the matter is that as on date, the said accused cannot be convicted for the offence punishable under Sections 363, 376 (3) of the IPC, Section 6 of the POCSO Act, 2012 and Section 3(2)(v) of the Act of 1989 as the offence of rape was committed with a dead body and for convicting an offence under the aforementioned sections, the victim should be alive,” the court said in its verdict.
“…There can be no disagreement on the issue that dignity and fair treatment is not only available to a living man but also to his dead body and every dead body is entitled for a respectful treatment but the law as on date has to be applied to the facts of the case and none of the offences as prayed by the learned counsel for the objector can be imposed upon the appellant-Neelkanth Nagesh. Since we have already concurred with the reasons and findings arrived at by the learned trial court, we are not inclined to allow the acquittal appeal filed by the mother of the victim and as such, the same also stands dismissed,” the bench said.
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