HC sends man to jail 18 yrs after rape bid conviction
Times of India | 28 July 2025
Kolkata: A man convicted of attempted rape of a minor 18 years ago in Jalpaiguri and subsequently granted bail has been directed by Calcutta High Court to surrender within six weeks to serve a five-year sentence. He was convicted on April 30, 2007 and had been out on bail since.
In 2005, the minor girl's father lodged a complaint against Khokan Debnath, a neighbour, alleging he attempted to rape his daughter, who suffered from a mild psychological disability. The child managed to escape and told her mother about the incident.
The incident took place on Sept 11, 2005 but the complaint was lodged on Oct 3 the same year because the family tried to settle the dispute instead of immediately approaching the police. During trial, the defence had made the case that there had been a delay of 23 days between the incident and the complaint and that the survivor's apparel had not been sent for forensic tests. It had further argued that no injuries were found on the minor's private parts. The court had convicted the accused on the basis of the survivor and her mother's statements.
On July 25, Justice Chaitali Chatterjee Das, while sending the convict back to jail, held that it was settled law that the sole testimony of a survivor of sexual offences, if found otherwise trustworthy, was sufficient to pass an order of conviction without further corroboration.