People Suffering From Mental Illness Deserve Special Care, Says SC Upholding Conviction In Rape Case

New Delhi: People suffering from mental illness deserve special care and love and are not to be exploited, the Supreme Court said while upholding the conviction and sentence awarded to a man for raping a mentally disabled woman, The New Indian Express (TNIE) reported quoting PTI.

The convict had exploited the victim by taking undue advantage of her mental illness. That is why the apex court dismissed his appeal against the September 2016 judgment of the Himachal Pradesh High Court which had convicted him in the case while setting aside the trial court order acquitting him, the report added.

“A person suffering from mental disorder or mental sickness deserves special care, love and affection. They are not to be exploited. In the present case, the accused has exploited the victim by taking disadvantage of her mental sickness/illness. Therefore, no interference of this court against the impugned judgment and order passed by the high court convicting the accused is called for,” the bench was quoted as saying. It also comprising Justices R S Reddy and M R Shah.

“On evidence, it has been established and proved that the victim was mentally retarded and her IQ was 62 and she was not in a position to understand the good and bad aspect of sexual assault,” the bench said in its 24-page judgement delivered on December 3, the report added.

The police told PTI that the victim’s father lodged an FIR in 2008 alleging that his daughter was found to be pregnant. She told her mother that the accused had raped her when she had gone to graze cattle.

The prosecution said that due to fear and mental weakness, the victim had not disclosed about the incident to anyone and when she was medically examined, she was found to be 31-week pregnant, the report said.

She gave birth to a child in June 2008 in Shimla and after a DNA test it was found that the accused was the biological father of the infant, the police said. He was arrested in the case but claimed innocence and denied the allegations during the trial, the report added.

The trial court had acquitted him mainly on the ground of delay in lodging the FIR and also that the woman was not mentally unsound to understand the consequences. Later, the state had moved the high court against the trial court’s order.