According to a recent ruling by the Rajasthan high court, stripping a young girl naked in front of her may not qualify as a “attempt to commit rape”; rather, it may be seen as a “offence of outraging the woman’s modesty.”
The remarks were made by the top court during the delivery of a verdict in a 33-year-old case involving the purported attack of the complainant’s granddaughter, who was approximately six years old at the time.
The accused, who was 25 years old at the time, allegedly forcibly carried the girl to a neighbouring “Dharamshala” with the purpose to rape her as she was drinking water at a water booth, according to the complaint, as reported by News18. But the villagers came to her aid when the girl spoke up. After that, the defendant left the area.
The lawsuit did not claim that the accused tried to penetrate, even though it did say that the accused and the victim undressed.
The high court dismissed the case, ruling that it was not covered by Sections 376 and 511 of the IPC and would not be considered a “attempt to commit rape” violation. Justice Dhand’s one-judge panel underlined the word “attempt” even further, stating that the accused had to have “gone beyond the stage of preparation.”
According to Dhand, there are “three stages” that must be completed for an act to be considered an attempt at rape. These stages are as follows: the accused must first entertain the notion or intention to commit the offence, then make plans to do so, and finally, take intentional action to commit the offence, as reported by News18.
The court also gave instances of cases where the accused forcedfully stripped the victim nude and attempted to have sex with her in spite of the girl’s resistance, such as “Damodar Behera v. Odisha” and “Sittu v. Rajasthan.” The high court declared that these cases constituted attempts at rape.
