Hearing & Speech Impaired Rape Victim Uses Plastic Doll For Testimony, Chhattisgarh High Court Upholds Convict's Life Term

In the present case, the victim- a young woman, deaf and dumb since birth, was raped by one of her relatives (accused), while her parents were not present in their house. When the victim's parents returned home, she communicated the incident through gestures and indicated the accused as the perpetrator. Consequently, an FIR was lodged, and during the investigation process, the victim's statements were recorded through an interpreter.

During the trial proceedings, since the victim was unable to clearly understand certain questions, the Court adopted a demonstrative method by bringing a plastic doll to facilitate communication. Through such demonstration, she indicated by gestures that the accused had forcibly committed sexual intercourse, and also conveyed through signs that she had earlier appeared before the Court and that her statement had been recorded by the Magistrate. Accordingly, the Trial Court convicted the accused under Section 450 (house-trespass) and Section 376 (rape) of IPC, and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

When the conviction was challenged before the High Court questioning the validity of her testimony, a Division Bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal reiterated that merely because a witness is deaf and dumb, her testimony cannot be discarded, and evidence given through gestures or signs with the assistance of a competent interpreter can form basis of a conviction if it inspires confidence. Noting that the statement of the victim inspired full confidence of the Court, the Bench stated,

“The defence contention that the victim, being deaf and dumb, is not a competent witness is liable to be rejected. The law recognizes that a witness who is unable to speak may give evidence by signs or gestures in open Court, and such evidence is to be treated as substantive oral evidence. In the present case, the trial Court took adequate precautions by securing the presence of a trained interpreter and by recording its satisfaction regarding the victim's capacity to understand and respond. There is no material on record to suggest that the victim was suffering from any mental incapacity that would render her testimony unreliable. On the contrary, her ability to identify the accused, to demonstrate the act complained of and to narrate the sequence of events through gestures clearly establishes her competency as a witness.”

In his challenge, the accused-appellant submitted that the conviction order should be set-aside primarily because the prosecution failed to produce reliable evidence, and satisfy the essential requirements to attract the offence of rape and house-trespass. He further contended that conviction cannot be sustained on the victim's sole testimony when the same does not inspire confidence and is not supported by reliable evidence on record.

However, the Court affirmed that the sole testimony of the victim, if found reliable, constitute grounds for convicting the accused and that the creditworthy testimony of the victim in cases of such nature deserve acceptance.

“… the victim (PW-02) is admittedly hearing and speech impaired since birth. Her evidence was recorded in the Court with the assistance of a trained deaf-mute teacher acting as an interpreter. The trial Court, before recording her statement, satisfied itself regarding her ability to understand the questions and to communicate her answers through gestures and signs.”, the Bench stated.

The Bench also recorded that the victim's gestures and narration in Court remained consistent with the version recorded in the FIR and earlier statements submitted. It went on to note that apart from the victim's testimony, the prosecution case was well corroborated by evidence of other witnesses, such as— her mother, father, and other villagers, whose statements affirmed the occurrence of the incident and the involvement of the accused. The Court also gave due regard to the Report from the Forensic Science Laboratory, which substantiated that sexual intercourse had taken place with the victim prior to her medical examination. In this backdrop, the Bench stated,

“The trial Court also noted that although the victim is deaf and mute, there is no material to suggest that she suffers from any mental abnormality which would prevent her from understanding the occurrence or communicating the same. On the contrary, her ability to convey the relevant facts through gestures, her identification of the accused, and her demonstration of the act alleged against him clearly indicate that she was competent to depose. Her testimony, therefore, constitutes substantive evidence. The same further stands corroborated by the surrounding circumstances, including the testimony of her mother regarding the immediate disclosure, the evidence of other witnesses, and the forensic report which detected seminal stains and human sperm on the vaginal slides of the victim as well as on the underwear of the accused.”

The Court thus, upheld the findings of the Trial Court, and accordingly dismissed the appeal.

Case Number: CRA No. 786 of 2023

Case Title: Neelam Kumar Deshmukh v. State Of Chhattisgarh

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