SC acquits man sent to gallows for 'rape-murder'

NEW DELHI: A man who was awarded death sentence in a rape-cum-murder case despite being incapable of sexual intercourse and spent 13 years under the shadow of death was acquitted along with other accused by Supreme Court on account of his medical condition and lack of conclusive evidence.A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and Vijay Bishnoi quashed trial court and HC orders that convicted the man and his friend and awarded them death for rape and murder of a woman.SC said both the trial court and the HC had glossed over patent infirmities and loopholes in the prosecution’s case. “The prosecution sought to attribute a motive to the appellants by alleging they subjected the deceasedvictim to sexual assault in order to satisfy their carnal desires and thereafter caused her death when she resisted.However, the evidence brought on record does not lend credence to this theory of motive. Significantly, Dr B S Aswal, who medically examined accused No.1 Mehtab, categorically deposed that owing to a medical condition suffered by the said accused, it was not possible for him to engage in sexual intercourse. This aspect assumes considerable importance because the prosecution case itself proceeds on the footingthe alleged sexual assault constituted the genesis of the entire occurrence...” the bench said.In the absence of any cogent evidence substantiating the motive, coupled with the medical evidence, the prosecution theory was highly doubtful and does not inspire confidence, it said.