RANCHI: Entering a woman’s house at night and trying to lift her clothes may be criminal, but it does not amount to an attempt to rape, Jharkhand HC has ruled while drawing a line between outraging a woman’s modesty and attempting to rape her.Justice Pradeep Kumar Srivastava, deciding a criminal appeal on Aug 31, held that acts attributed to the appellant did not cross that legal threshold. HC upheld his conviction for using criminal force against a woman with the intention of outraging her modesty, finding evidence sufficient for the lesser offence. The judgement was released Monday.The court modified a July 25 sessions court order from East Singhbhum district that had sentenced the man to four years of rigorous imprisonment for attempted rape. It reduced his sentence to the nearly eight months he had already spent in custody, saying that was sufficient to meet the ends of justice. The appeal was partly allowed.The case dates to the night of Dec 26, 1999. The man was arrested on Dec 27 and later a chargesheet was filed alleging attempted rape.The trial court convicted him of attempted rape and handed him a four-year prison term. The appellant approached the high court.Justice Srivastava said an act can amount to attempted rape only when it is sufficiently proximate to the commission of rape. The evidence in this case did not make the leap from criminal force intended to outrage a woman’s modesty to an attempt to rape, HC ruled.
