Reporting rape: judge details difficulties

The Supreme Court has reduced the sentence of a man earlier convicted for raping a woman from 20 years to five years on the basis of the fact that the report of the incident was lodged seven months later and there were no signs of violence on alleged victims' body.

"It is noteworthy that after the occurrence, the alleged victim came back to her house where her brother and other family members were admittedly living but she remained mum for almost 07 months.

"The long silence of the complainant for a period of 07 months speaks volumes against her conduct, therefore, the story narrated by the complainant with the delay of 07 months regarding forcible rape cannot be relied upon blindly," said the majority verdict authored by Malik Shahzad Ahmad Khan was endorsed by Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi.

The Supreme Court was hearing the appeal of rape convict Hassan Khan against the 20-year rigorous imprisonment awarded by a trial court and upheld the Lahore High Court (LHC).

Through the majority order, the SC reduced the sentence to five years' imprisonment.

Justice Salahuddin Panhwar, the third member of the bench, however, disagreed with the majority order noting that cases of rape and sexual harassment go unreported in the society as the victims are fearful of the consequences of reporting.

"A victim of rape or sexual harassment often has to justify his/her own family members in regards to his/her own character at the time when he/she reports about the particular occurrence," he said.

He said in the case in hand, the victim was of young age, unmarried with her parents having passed away and she being dependent on an elder brother.

The judge noted that the record also showed evidence of threats forwarded to the victim and it clearly made sense as to how reluctant a girl would be in these circumstances to share such an unfortunate occurrence with her own brother.

"It appeals to us as in the common course of natural events that her reluctance to report would have continued till she would have known about her pregnancy.

"It was observed by this court that the delay in reporting sexual assault to the police is therefore not very material as held in the Irfan Case and that delay in such cases is not fatal to the case of prosecution keeping in mind the dilemma of our society."

The judge also disagreed with the contention that absence of marks on the body of the victim favoured the accused. "I am of a different view, as the accused was carrying a weapon, and any victim would be reluctant to resist such a perpetrator with a weapon in hand."

Referring to the Mehboob Ahmad Case, he said a deadly weapon in hands of a perpetrator is a factor for lack of marks of violence on the body of the victim due to the fear of harm.

"Even otherwise, the medical examination could have not effectively captured the physical resistance by the victim after a time span of approximately seven months," he noted.

He emphasized that Sections 376 (rape) and 496B are distinct offenses, and a conviction cannot be altered simply to reduce the sentence.