Rubbing Male Organ Even Over Underpants Amounts to Rape: Meghalaya High Court

The convict had argued that if the victim was wearing underpants, he couldn't be accused of rape.

(Image is being used for representational purposes.)

(Photo: The Quint)

In a new ruling, the Meghalaya High Court has held that if a man forced his male organ even over the underpants that caused "penetration into, inter alia, the vagina or urethra" then the act will amount to rape.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice W Diengdoh on Monday, 14 March, in their order on an incident of rape dating back to 23 September, 2006, was quoted as saying:

"In any event, by virtue of Section 375 (c) of the Penal Code, when a person manipulates any part of the body of a woman so as to cause penetration into, inter alia, the vagina or urethra, the act would amount to rape. There is sufficient evidence of such penetration in the present case."

What Was the Case?

A trial court had, on 31 October 2018, sentenced the accused to 10 years of imprisonment and levied a Rs 25,000 fine.

The convict, however, had challenged the aforementioned order in the high court, asserting that if the victim was still wearing her underpants, he could not be accused of rape, reported news agency IANS.

The high court, while refusing to accept the claim, said, that it was evident that the 10-year-old victim, upon being medically examined, still showed injuries of assault.

"Since the victim was a minor and since the appellant confessed that he lost control over himself and committed the offence, the punishment awarded to the appellant herein does not appear to be out of place," the court further said.

(With inputs from IANS and LiveLaw.)