Jaipur: Rajasthan High Court said, the act of removing a minor girl’s innerwear and then getting naked yourself does not amount to an ‘attempt to commit rape’ but it would be considered an offence of outraging the woman’s modesty.
The bench led by Justice Anup Kumar Dhand determined that the act of removing a girl’s underwear and the perpetrator undressing does not meet the criteria under Sections 376 and 511 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Instead, this behavior was adjudicated under Section 354 of the IPC, which addresses ‘outraging the modesty of a woman’.
Justice Dhand clarified the legal definition of “attempt”, stating that for an action to qualify as an attempt to commit a crime, the accused must have moved beyond mere preparation. The judge explained that the accused’s actions did not progress beyond this preliminary stage.
This decision came during the review of a case where the accused, Suvalal, was alleged to have attempted to rape a six-year-old girl. According to the complaint filed in Todaraisingh, Tonk district on March 9, 1991, Suvalal forcefully took the girl into a nearby Dharamshala with the intent to commit rape. However, her cries for help brought villagers to the scene, preventing further assault.
Although the original conviction by the District Court of Tonk was for attempted rape, and Suvalal served two and a half months in jail, Justice Dhand’s judgment reclassified the crime under Section 354 based on the actions described.
The ruling referenced previous cases, including Damodar Behera vs Odisha and Sittu vs Rajasthan State, where similar acts were classified differently based on the level of aggression and intent demonstrated. The court delineated the three stages of committing a crime, emphasizing that for an offense to be considered an attempt, clear, overt actions beyond preparation must be evident.
In Suvalal’s case, the absence of any attempt at penetration was a key factor in not classifying his actions as an attempt to commit rape.
(Inputs from IANS)
