According to the modification, the appellant's jail term has been reduced from seven to four years and he was directed to pay Rs 1 lakh compensation to the victim.
One Maria Doss of Vaduvaanchery in Kumbakonam was charged for raping a deaf and dumb girl.
According to the prosecution, the girl along with her family members had stayed at her relative's house situated in Vaduvaanchery on March 26, 2003. During the night, when she went outside the house to attend nature's call, the man stopped her midway and committed the offence.
The judicial magistrate (JM) court in Kumbakonam tried the case and delivered the judgment on April 20, 2007 sentencing him to seven years imprisonment and imposing Rs 10,000 fine after it found him guilty.
Challenging the judgment the man preferred an appeal, which the fast track court, Thanjavur heard and dismissed the same on September 21, 2007.
Aggrieved over it, he filed a second appeal before the high court bench. The matter came up before justice P N Prakash who passed an order modifying the judgment.
In the order the judge said that in the present case the statement of the victim has been recorded by a teacher who teaches deaf and dumb students. Besides, the perusal of the victim's statement showed that there was no evidence for the offence of rape. The victim has herself said that she escaped from the scene of occurrence when the appellant attempted to do the offence.
Hence, his offence comes under the attempt to commit the offence. So the lower court's judgment is modified, the judge said.
The judge also pointed out that according to the amendment to the Indian Evidence Act, which pertaining to recording of evidences of the deaf and dumb, the evidence of people like the victim should be recorded through experts besides the same should be videographed.
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