HC: Identification parade must if accused not known to victim

The Rajasthan high court has instructed the state authorities to issue guidelines to all the police investigating officers to conduct the test identification parade in cases where the accused was not known to the victim, in a significant directive that saw the court setting aside the conviction of three men in a 34-year-old rape case.

- Dinesh Bothra

JODHPUR:

A single bench of Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand was an appeal by the convicts Madan Meena, Sheoji Meena and Prahlad Meena, all three residents of Jaipur—who challenged their conviction by a sessions court in 1991 in a rape case.

The high court upheld the appeal, observing that the prosecution had failed to establish the identity of the convicts beyond reasonable doubt.

The alleged incident dates back to May 23, 1989, when a woman accused the three men of forcibly taking her to a deserted location and raping her. On June 24, 1991, the trial court convicted them of rape under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sentenced them to 10-year rigorous imprisonment.