The Supreme Court has restored Trial Court judgment acquitting a man booked for raping a 4-and-a-half year old girl after taking note of the absence of injury on or near the private parts of the victim and the fact that the FSL report ruled out the presence of blood and semen on her clothes.

The Apex Court was considering an appeal filed by the appellant convicted by the High Court of Himachal Pradesh under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

The Division Bench of Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice Atul S. Chandurkar stated, “When the version of the informant, PW2 and the victim, PW3, who state about presence of bloodstains on the clothes of the victim is considered along with the preliminary medical examination of the victim conducted within twelve hours of the incident and the final report of the Medical Officer, the presence of any injury on or near the private parts of the victim is not found.”

“The medical examination conducted within twelve hours of the alleged occurrence, however, belies the presence of any injury whatsoever on her body. The opinion of the MO at the preliminary examination stands confirmed by the Final Medical Report. In addition, the report of the FSL rules out the presence of blood and semen on the clothes of the victim. Traces of semen on the undergarment of the appellant, by itself, is not found relevant in these circumstances”, it added.

Advocate Sonam Gupta represented the Appellant while Additional Advocate General Vaibhav Srivastava represented the Respondent.

Factual Background

It was alleged that the appellant committed rape on the daughter of the informant, who was aged about four and a half years. When the victim returned home, her mother found that there were bloodstains on her clothes. The informant washed the victim’s clothes and gave her a bath. The informant called her husband as well as her father after which the First Information Report came to be lodged on the same day. An offence was registered, and investigation was undertaken. On its completion, a charge-sheet was filed against the appellant, and he was charged with having committed an offence punishable under Section 376.

The Trial Court acquitted the appellant of the said offence after finding the prosecution evidence insufficient to convict him. The Division Bench of the Himachal Pradesh High Court, however, overturned his acquittal and convicted him. The appellant was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of ten years. Aggrieved thereby, the appellant approached the Apex Court.

Reasoning

On a perusal of the facts of the case, the Bench noted that as per the FIR, the mother of the victim had referred to blood being found on the clothes of the victim immediately after she returned from the house of the appellant and had also referred to the act of sexual intercourse. The Bench noted that the victim was asked various questions and she too was firm with the stand that there were bloodstains on her clothes. Her clothes were subjected to a ‘Benzidine test’ at the FSL to detect the presence of blood thereon, and Acid Phosphate test as well as Microscopic Examination were also carried out for the detection of semen.

The Bench found that the final report of the FSL indicated that there was no blood detected on the clothes of the victim or the undergarment of the appellant.

Dealing with the aspect of ‘Benzidine test’ for detecting the presence of blood, the Bench noticed that as per the Indian Journal of Modern Research and Reviews, Volume 2 Issue 6, June 2024 it has been opined in the studies conducted that blood presence could be detected by the ‘Benzidine test’ till the tenth washing, irrespective of detergent use. The Bench further explained that only after multiple washings the efficacy of Benzidine in detecting bloodstains could be questioned.

The Bench was of the view that the absence of any blood on the clothes of the victim as well as on the undergarment of the appellant after the garments were subjected to the ‘Benzidine test’ as per the FSL report was a relevant factor, which could not be ignored. “Thus, when the oral statements of PW2 and PW3 are considered along with the Final Medical Report and the report of the FSL, a grave doubt is created about the version of PW2 and PW3 as regards injury on the body of the victim and bloodstains on the clothes of the victim. The prosecution evidence neither indicates any injury to the private parts of the victim nor trace of any blood on her clothes”, it stated.

The Bench further held that the absence of any cot or bed in the kitchen, as admitted by the Investigating Officer, also raised a doubt as regards the place of occurrence, especially as the victim stated that the alleged incident took place on the cot on which one Jaidev Sharma used to sleep.

Thus, holding that the Trial Court had rightly acquitted the appellant of the said accusation, the Bench allowed the appeal and acquitted the appellant of the offence punishable under Section 376 IPC.

Cause Title: Ram Singh v. The State of Himachal Pradesh (Neutral Citation: 2026 INSC 830)

Appearance

Appellant: Advocates Sonam Gupta, Shiva Pande, Saumay Kapoor, Ritvika Poswal, AOR Sanjay Jain

Respondent: Additional Advocate General Vaibhav Srivastava, AOR Sugandha Anand, Advocate Chetan Anand Mohapatra

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