Bombay HC upholds child rapist's conviction, 20-year jail on basis of forensic evidence

MUMBAI: Calling it a "heinous" crime, the Bombay high court recently upheld the conviction of a man who sexually assaulted a nearly six-year-old child on forensic evidence that matched the bite marks on the minor's lips with the man's teeth. The child could not identify him.
"It is a very serious offence. The victim was traumatised mentally and physically," said Justice Sarang Kotwal, dismissing the accused's appeal on August 4. A Pocso court had convicted him on July 7, 2017, under IPC section 376 (rape) and Pocso section 4 (penetrative sexual assault) and sentenced him to 20 years rigorous imprisonment.
On July 4, 2014, the girl was sent out to buy 'paan' and did not return. The police were informed and the next day they found her injured in hospital: her face was swollen and she was wearing someone else's clothes. She told her father she had been sexually assaulted.
During investigation, the police learnt that the accused, who had committed other similar crimes, was missing from the area. Thirteen days later, the police traced and brought him back from another state. Under forensic odontology, his dental impression matched the bite marks. He was formally arrested on July 31.
The minor told the court "one uncle" accosted her as she was going to the paan shop, snatched her money and took her to an overgrown plot. He threw away her clothes, beat her and sexually assaulted her. He tried to strangle her and threw her into water accumulated from the rain. In the morning, a woman passing by saw her shivering. She brought a blanket and clothes and took her to hospital.
The man's advocate argued the child had not identified him and the forensic expert's opinion could not be the sole basis for conviction. Justice Kotwal noted the minor had said she did not see him as he had covered her face. "Considering the trauma the victim faced, it is understandable the victim was unable to identify the offender," he reasoned.
He added that the forensic doctor, then attached to KEM Hospital, gave proper reasons for her analysis. As observed by the Supreme Court in the 2017 Nirbhaya case, where a forensic odontology report nailed two accused, "this evidence can be treated as a wholly credible piece of evidence", the judge said. "Dr Hemlata Pande is a totally independent expert witness. There is no reason to doubt her evidence," he added.
Concluding that the prosecution has proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, he directed the state "to give all benefits under their various schemes to the victim in this particular case at the earliest".