{"id":258051,"date":"2021-12-03T12:00:41","date_gmt":"2021-12-03T06:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?p=258051"},"modified":"2021-12-10T16:06:41","modified_gmt":"2021-12-10T10:36:41","slug":"kottiyoor-rape-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/12\/03\/kottiyoor-rape-case\/","title":{"rendered":"[Kottiyoor Rape Case] Ker HC upholds conviction of former priest; reduces 20 years rigorous imprisonment to 10 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kerala High Court: <\/strong>In an infamous case of sexual assault whereby the priest of the St. Sebastian Church had impregnated a minor girl, R. Narayana Pisharadi, J., upheld the conviction of the accused. The Bench, however, reduced the sentence of 20 years rigorous imprisonment awarded to the accused to 10 years rigorous imprisonment.<\/p>\n

The appellant, a Vicar of St. Sebastian Church was indicted for committing the offences of penetrative sexual assault and rape on a teenage girl of the parish; consequently, the victim became pregnant and gave birth to a male child on 07-02-2017. The Trial Court convicted and sentenced the appellant for the offences punishable under Section 376(2)(f) of the Penal Code, 1860 and also under Section 3(a) read with Section 4 and Sections 5(f) and 5(j)(ii) read with Section 6 of the POCSO Act, 2012. The Trial Court had sentenced the accused to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of twenty years and to pay a fine of Rs.1,00,000.<\/p>\n

In the instant appeal, the appellant contended that the sexual intercourse took place with full and unqualified consent of the victim. On cross-examination by the accused, the victim categorically stated that it was with her full consent that the accused made sexual intercourse with her and that she had got no complaint against the accused.<\/p>\n

Noticing that the victim girl told the police that her own father had committed rape on her and that the father of her child was her own father, while the medical report had proved the accused was the father of the child and the paternity was admitted by the accused himself, the Bench observed,<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the instant case, from the very beginning, there has been attempt on the part of the family of the victim to save the accused, who was the vicar of the local church, from the clutches of law.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Whether the Victim was minor at the time of the incident?<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to the prosecution, the date of birth of the victim was 17-11-1999, following documents had been produced to prove juvenility of the victim at the time of the incident:<\/p>\n