Chhattisgarh HC Ruling on Ejaculation Case
Raipur: In a landmark decision, the Chhattisgarh high court ruled that ejaculation without penetration does not amount to rape but attempted rape.
While setting aside the trial court’s decision in a 20-year-old case by changing the conviction of the accused to attempted rape, Justice Narendra Kumar Vyas observed: ‘Ejaculation without penetration is not actual rape but attempted rape. It is clear that at one stage of the evidence, it could not be determined that actual rape had occurred because the victim’s own statement created doubt.’
The case pertained to an incident that took place on 21 May 2004 in Dhamtari district of Chhattisgarh.
The victim claimed that the defendant forcibly took her to his home, took off her clothes and forcibly had sexual intercourse.
A case was registered on his complaint in May 2004.
The additional sessions judge’s court in Dhamtari sentenced him to seven years rigorous imprisonment in April 2005 after convicting him under Section 376 (1) (rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
“The victim was subjected to extensive cross-examination, where the accused testified that when the accused grabbed her hand and took off his trousers, he inserted his private part into her vagina. She also stated that the appellant kept his private part over her vagina for about 10 minutes and confirmed that he kept his private part over hers but did not penetrate,” the court said.
While medical evidence revealed that the hymen was intact, the examining doctor noted that there was a possibility of partial penetration, but could not give a definitive opinion about rape.
Citing a decision of a high court, the apex court observed that complete penetration, rupture of hymen or emission of semen is not required to prove the existence of rape.
However, the court said that in the current case, the prosecutor’s own statements raised doubts about actual infiltration.
The court stated that although there was evidence of sexual assault and the possibility of partial penetration, the nature of full rape was not fully established.
