High Court of Delhi

Sunil Kumar vs. State of NCT Delhi.

Crl. A. 71/2021 and Crl. M. (BAIL) 150/2021 [2021 SCC OnLine Del 2391]

Ratio Decidendi

If the statement of the victim inspires confidence, then the court may convict on the statement alone. Relied on State of Himachal Pradesh v. Manga Singh and State of Punjab v. Gurmit Singh.

Case Notes

Facts

The victim aged 12 years was sleeping along with her two brothers at her neighbors house. The accused, her step father took the victim and her brothers to thier house where he gave beatings to the brothers and made them go upstairs. The accused then raped the child. The accused was convicted by the trial court. The accused appealed the conviction on the basis that the statement of the child does not inspire confidence as there are contradictions about the place where the children had been sleeping.


Judgment

In this case, the court said that the Statement of the victim if it inspires confidence and is found to be credible, consistent, and reliable, is enough to act as the basis for conviction. The court held there were no material inconsistencies in the statement of the victim and the child survivor has consistently stated that the incident occurred in the house of the victim and has been consistent with how the crime against her occurred. The conviction of the accused was upheld by the High Court.