In Brief
A woman accused a man of rape in December 1999, but lodged an FIR seven months later, in July 2000, after becoming pregnant. The trial court convicted the man under Section 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. The High Court upheld the conviction. The Supreme Court allowed the appeal, finding the conviction unsafe. The seven-month delay, combined with inconsistent testimonies from witnesses claiming the man confessed, and reliance solely on the prosecutrix's testimony without medical corroboration, created reasonable doubt. The Court emphasized that delay in rape cases requires satisfactory explanation and that extra-judicial confessions contradicted by the witnesses themselves cannot support conviction.
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