Madras HC acquits man in sexual assault case, terms police probe ‘faulty’

Chennai: The Madras high court has acquitted a man, who was sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment by a lower court in a case of sexual assault in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruvannamalai district in 2007, terming the police probe as “faulty”.

The court also directed the Tamil Nadu DGP to peruse the judgement given by the trial court and the high court and arrange for training classes to all investigation officers to sensitise them to the manner in which a probe should be conducted in a case of sexual offence.

Allowing the appeal by the accused V Venkatesan Tuesday, Justice MV Muralidharan said, “It is seen from records that the investigation conducted by an inspector of police is the root cause for the collapse of the case of the prosecution.” In the case on hand, the judge said the investigating officer, without taking due care, conducted the probe in a casual manner and was not aware of the manner to investigate into the offence.

“The faulty investigation and the conduct of the victim soon after the occurrence of the incident have not inspired confidence in the case of the prosecution,” he said.

The matter relates to the sexual assault of a woman by Venkatesan on October 13, 2007 at her residence in Arani.

Venkatesan was handed down the sentence on August 23, 2013 by a lower court for the offence under sections 450 (house trespass), 376 (punishment for sexual assault) of IPC.

Aggrieved over the conviction and sentence passed by the court, Venkatesan preferred the instant appeal in the High Court.

Noting that the accused was arrested after a lapse of 11 months of the incident, the judge said the complaint was lodged by the victim on October 19, 2007 and her medical examination done on October 31, which is a faulty investigation.

The judge then acquitted Venkatesan of all charges.