Gauhati High Court acquits rape convict: prosecutrix's testimony must be a 'sterling witness' to sustain a conviction alone

The Gauhati High Court set aside a conviction under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code and acquitted the appellant after ten years of imprisonment, holding that his conviction had rested unsafely on the sole testimony of the prosecutrix. While the law permits a conviction for rape on the prosecutrix's testimony alone, the Court held, relying on Rai Sandeep v. State (NCT of Delhi), that such testimony must bear the hallmark of a 'sterling witness' — consistent and free of infirmities. Here, the prosecutrix's statement under Section 164 of the CrPC, recorded during investigation, omitted the second accused entirely, while her trial testimony described him actively holding her down — a discrepancy the Court found went to the very nature of the incident, not a minor detail.

The medical examination also did not support forcible intercourse, and she had herself stated she would withdraw the case if the appellant agreed to marry her, raising a real possibility of false implication over a broken promise of marriage. Applying the settled principle that where two views are reasonably possible, the one favouring the accused must be preferred, the Court gave the appellant the benefit of the doubt and ordered his release.