The Supreme Court has ruled that the statement of a rape survivor alone is enough for a conviction if it is ‘independent and straightforward’ to prove the allegations against the accused.
In a five-page judgement issued on Wednesday, the top court said that the law makes it clear that the rape victim’s statement is sufficient. Justice Sayyed Mazar Ali Akbar Naqvi penned the verdict.
The ruling was issued when the court was hearing a criminal petition filed by a convicted rapist. He was found guilty of raping a seven-year-old girl and using criminal force against the victim’s mother.
The case had been registered under sections 377-B/354/511 PPC.
The Balochistan High Court had upheld an earlier decision to convict him and sentence him for five years in prison under Section 377-B PPC and two years RI under Section 354 PPC.
While issuing the ruling, the court mentioned its recent verdict that said that “rape is a crime that is usually committed in private, and there is hardly any witness to provide direct evidence of having seen the commission of crime by the accused person”.
The court in the instant case In the said judgement, the court had observed that the rape survivor had clearly named the accused in her statement before the court. The judgement also noted that delay in registering of FIRs against rape does not mean the allegations are false because families often shy away from coming forward due to the trauma that comes with sexual crimes.
