NATIONAL LAW INSTITUTE

UNIVERSITY
BHOPAL,M.P.

A Project Of IPC –II On Case Analysis Of Case

Rajkumar vs State Of MP MANU/SC/0136/2014

Submitted to, Submitted by,

Ms.Divya Salim Ajita Nadkarni
Asst. Professor 2012 BALLB 101
1|Page
 Table Of Contents

Topic Page no: range/Page no:

1.Material facts..........................................................................................3-4

2.Stance taken by prosection witnesses......................................................4-5

3.Legal issues involved................................................................................5

4.Sections of the IPC involved....................................................................5-6

5.Arguements of both sides..........................................................................6-7

6.Judgement.................................................................................................7-9

7.Case laws referred by the Apex Court........................................................9

8.Conclusion..................................................................................................10

9.Bibliography................................................................................................10

2|Page
 Material facts
On 26.12.2012, the appellant, aged 32 years, came to the house of his neighbour Iknis Jojo
and stayed with his four children as Iknis Jojo and his wife Albisiya had gone to irrigate
agricultural fields in the night.

1. The appellant was on visiting terms with the family and the children used to call him
their maternal uncle. On the said night, he had taken liquor and meals in the
complainant`s house and when retiring for the night, the appellant asked the
prosecutrix Gounjhi, aged 14 years not to sleep with her three siblings named
Sushma, Sanchit and Aric, rather to sleep at some distance from them. Around
midnight, he raped prosecutrix Gounjhi. 
2. While committing rape, he caused some grievous injuries and consequently she died.
The incident was witnessed by Sanchit who was the brother of the prosecutrix, but out
of fear, he could not raise any hue and cry. After committing the crime, the appellant
left the place of occurrence.

3. In the morning, Iknis Jojo alongwith his wife Albisiya came from their fields and
found the children sleeping. They woke them up and also tried to wake the
prosecutrix when they realised that she was dead. Sanchit narrated the incident that
had occurred in the night.

4. Iknis Jojo immediately went to the police station and lodged the complaint, on the
basis of which Crime was registered for the offence under Sections 302 and 450 IPC. 
5. He came to the spot, recovered the dead body, prepared the Panchnama and also
recovered the blackish brown colour purse and clothes lying near the place of
occurrence. Some coins and a small packet of tobacoo were also recovered. Some hair
were found lying near the dead body of the prosecutrix and one sky blue coloured
shawl was also recovered from the place of occurrence which had blood stains and
some other kind of stains at various places.
6. The earth of that place had some fluid material which was also recovered. The
investigating officer prepared the site plan in presence of the witnesses and dead body
of the prosecutrix was sent for postmortem and the appellant was subsequently
arrested.

3|Page
 7. The Doctors conducted the postmortem of the prosecutrix and submitted the report.
As per the postmortem report, rape had been committed upon the deceased.

8. After taking permission from the Judicial Magistrate, the specimen blood of the
appellant was obtained to conduct his DNA finger printing which was sent for
analysis to State Forensic Science Laboratory, Sagar. All the materials sent for
chemical analysis were analysed and the report was submitted on the basis of which
the chargesheet was filed and the appellant was put to trial. Appellant denied his
involvement in the offence.Thus the trial commenced. 

9. The deceased was 14 years of age and a student in sixth standard which was proved
from the school register and the statement of her father.So far as medical evidence is
concerned, it was mentioned that the deceased prosecutrix was about 16 years of age.

10.  Semen of the appellant was found on the vaginal swab of the deceased. The clothes
of the deceased were also found having appellant`s semen spots. The hair which were
found near the place of occurrence were found to be that of the appellant. 

Stance Taken By Various Prosecution

Witnesses

1.Iknis Jojo, father of the deceased, deposed while giving the version as mentioned in the FIR
and admitted that the appellant used to come to his house occasionally and he was referred to
by his children and sometimes he used to stay in the house though his house was only half a
kilometer away from his house and he was already married having a child.

2.Sanchit a 10 years old boy, said that the appellant had come to their house. He consumed
liquor and was served rice and water by the deceased. Appellant asked the prosecutrix to
sleep at some distance from her siblings. The appellant slept with other three children and it
was about 11-12 in the night that he heard the shrieks of his sister and saw that the appellant
had pressed her neck and he got so much scared that he could not even raise the voice.

3.Dr. Prabha Pipre deposed about the conduct of the postmortem of the body of the deceased
alongwith Dr. Surendra Barkare. The hymen of the deceased was torn and blood was oozing

4|Page
out from her private parts. Some blood was present in the cavity of the private part and some
blood was also present in the cavity of her uterus. On the basis of the above, she had opined
that deceased had been subjected to rape before murder.

Legal Issues Involved

1.Analysis of rape case followed by murder.

2.In which all circumstances the death sentence can be reduced to life imprisonment?

3.What all are the relevant sections demanding scrutiny in all such cases of rape followed by
murder?

4.How can rarest of rare of cases be differentiated from other cases and what is the approach
of the courts in such circumstance

Sections Of The IPC Involved

1.Section 376:

(1) Whoever, except in the cases provided for by sub-section (2), commits rape shall be
punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than
seven years but which may be for life or for a term which may extend to ten years and shall
also be liable to fine unless the women raped is his own wife and is not under twelve years of
age, in which cases, he shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term
which may extend to two years or with fine or with both: Provided that the court may, for
adequate and special reasons to be mentioned in the judgment, impose a sentence of
imprisonment for a term of less than seven years.

2.Section 511:

5|Page
 Punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or
other imprisonment.—Whoever attempts to commit an offence punishable by this Code with
1[imprisonment for life] or imprisonment, or to cause such an offence to be committed, and
in such attempt does any act towards the commission of the offence, shall, where no express
provision is made by this Code for the punishment of such attempt, be punished with
2[imprisonment of any description provided for the offence, for a term which may extend to
one-half of the imprisonment for life or, as the case may be, one-half of the longest term of
imprisonment provided for that offence], or with such fine as is provided for the offence, or
with both.

3.Section 302:

Punishment for murder.—Whoever commits murder shall be punished with death, or

imprisonment for life and shall also be liable to fine.

4.Section 450:

House-trespass in order to commit offence punishable with imprisonment for life.—Whoever

commits house-trespass in order to the committing of any offence punishable with
imprisonment for life, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term
not exceeding ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.

Arguements Of The Parties

1.Appellant:

Counsel on behalf of appellant has submitted that the appellant had falsely been implicated
by the family members of the deceased at the instance of the police. There is no eye-witness
in the case. Sanchit Jojo , brother of the prosecutrix, is a child witness and cannot be relied
upon simply for the reason that after seeing the incident and knowing well that his sister had
been killed, he did not raise any alarm even after the accused had left the spot. Even in the
morning, he did not tell his parents when they came back from the agricultural fields as what
had happened. Therefore, the courts have committed a grave error while placing reliance
upon the deposition of the child witness. It is a clear cut case of circumstantial evidence for

6|Page
which the prosecution could not furnish explanation on various counts and it cannot be held
that appellant had committed rape upon prosecutrix and, subsequently, killed her. The facts
and circumstances of the case did not warrant death sentence as awarded by the courts .

2.Respondent:

The learned counsel appearing on behalf of the State, has opposed the appeals contending
that the appellant had a pre-meditated intention to commit the offence and that is why he
asked the prosecutrix to sleep separately. The chemical analysis report as well as the DNA
report make it crystal clear that no other person except the appellant had committed the
offence and the manner in which the offence had been committed and the gravity of the
offence warrant nothing less than the death sentence and, thus, the appeals lack merit and are
liable to be dismissed.

Judgement

1.Trial Court-

1.The evidence of Sanchit Jojo , a child witness was worth placing reliance and it duly
supported the case of the prosecution.

2. The appellant did not take any defence in his statement under Section 313 Cr.P.C. except
that he had been falsely implicated by the family of the deceased at the instance of the police.

3.The trial court treated it to be a case of extreme culpability and a rarest of rare case
awarding death sentence under Section 302 IPC with a fine of Rs. 3,000. Under Section 376
IPC, the appellant was awarded rigorous life imprisonment and a fine of Rs.3,000 in default
of making payment on both counts, sentence of one year on each count was also awarded. For
the offence punishable under Section 450 IPC, the appellant was awarded 10 years rigorous
imprisonment with a fine of Rs.3,000 and in default, a rigorous imprisonment for one year.
All the offences would run parallel to each other.

2.MP High Court-

7|Page
1.The High Court recorded the same findings after re- appreciation of evidence and came to
the conclusion that prosecutrix was 14 years of age at the time of incident.

2.The appellant was admittedly present in the house but he furnished no explanation
whatsoever about the injuries received by the deceased.

3.As the appellant has committed rape upon an innocent and a helpless child and then killed
her brutally, it has shocked not only the judicial conscience but even the conscience of
society as well.

4.The High Court also recorded the finding that the offence had been committed in a pre-
mediated manner. The death sentence was affirmed and the appeal was dismissed of the
appellant.

3.Supreme Court-

1. The Apex Court took note of the concurrent findings of fact recorded by the lower courts ,
particularly in respect of the DNA report to the extent that the semen of the appellant was
found in the vagina swab of the prosecutrix and that she died of asphyxia caused by
strangulation.

2. The trial court must ascertain as to whether a child is able to discern between right or
wrong and it may be ascertained only by putting the questions to him.

3. The trial court must ascertain as to whether a child is able to discern between right or
wrong and it may be ascertained only by putting the questions to him.

4. The accused has a duty to furnish an explanation in his statement under Section 313
Cr.P.C. regarding any incriminating material that has been produced against him. If the
accused has been given the freedom to remain silent during the investigation as well as before
the court, then the accused may choose to maintain silence or even remain in complete denial
when his statement under Section 313 Cr.P.C. is being recorded.

5.The appellant has not denied his presence in the house on that night. When the children
were left in the custody of the appellant, he was bound to explain as under what
circumstances Gounjhi died.

8|Page
6. The extreme penalty of death need not be inflicted except in gravest cases of extreme
culpability. Before opting for the death penalty the circumstances of the offender also require
to be taken into consideration alongwith the circumstances of the crime for the reason that
life imprisonment is the rule and death sentence is an exception.

7.The Supreme Court was of the view that inspite of the fact that the appellant had committed
a heinous crime and raped an innocent, helpless and defenceless minor girl who was in his
custody, he is liable to be punished severely but it is not a case which falls within a category
of rarest of rare cases.

8.The death sentence was set aside and life imprisonment was awarded. The appellant must
serve a minimum of 35 years in jail without remission, before consideration of his case for
pre-mature release. But the case would be subject to the clemency power of the Executive.

Some Case Laws Referred By The Apex Court

1.Swami Shraddananda @ Murali Manohar Mishra v. State of

Karnataka, AIR 2008 SC 3040 SC-

The Court set aside the sentence of death penalty and awarded life imprisonment, but further
explained that in order to serve the ends of justice, the appellant therein would not be released
from prison till the end of his life.

2. Bantu @ Naresh Giri v. State of M.P., AIR 2002 SC 70-

While dealing with the case of rape and murder of a six years old girl, the Court found that
the case was not one of the 'rarest of rare cases. The Court noticed that, accused was less than
22 years at the time of commission of the offence, there were no injuries on the body of the
deceased and the death probably occurred as a result of gagging of the nostril by the accused.
Thus, the Court while noticing that the crime was heinous, commuted the sentence of death to
one of life imprisonment.

9|Page
 Conclusion/Logic Inferred
1.The balance sheet of aggravating and mitigating circumstances has to be drawn up and in
doing so, the mitigating circumstances have to be accorded full weightage and a just balance
has to be struck between the aggravating and mitigating circumstances before option is
exercised.

2. For awarding the death sentence, there must be existence of aggravating circumstances and
the consequential absence of mitigating circumstances.

Bibliography

1.www.indiankanoon.org

2.www.legalsutra.com

10 | P a g e
11 | P a g e
12 | P a g e
13 | P a g e
14 | P a g e
15 | P a g e