Patna High Court trims rape‑attempt charge to indecent assault in 2010 Ballia case

Patna High Court on Oct 8, 2026 reduced a man’s conviction for attempted rape to a simple indecent assault after finding no evidence of penetration or undressing. The court said that merely lying on a victim, even with the lamp off and the mouth pressed, shocks decency but does not satisfy the legal test for rape unless physical marks, torn clothing or medical proof are present. Justice Sandeep Kumar noted all ingredients of Section 354 IPC were met, but without proof of undressing or any act toward penetration the charge of attempt under Sections 376 and 511 could not stand. Consequently, the appellant’s conviction was changed from attempt to commit rape to outraging a woman’s modesty (Section 354) while his conviction for house‑trespass (Section 448) was upheld. The incident occurred on Feb 8, 2010 in Ballia, Begusarai district. A widow labourer sleeping in her thatched house reported that the accused broke the fastened door, extinguished the lamp, lay on her and pressed her mouth to muffle cries. Villagers later apprehended him. After the local police failed to register the FIR, she lodged a formal complaint before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, leading to registration of the case. On July 29, 2013 the Additional Sessions Court convicted the man under Sections 376/511 and 448, sentencing him to four years of rigorous imprisonment. During the appeal, the victim admitted that her clothes were intact, no injuries were found on her body, bed or clothing, and she did not undergo a medical exam. Citing Supreme Court precedents, the High Court held that without such evidence the attempt charge is an over‑magnification of indecent assault. The appellant, about 60 years old with no prior record, had already spent more than 13 years on bail after an initial custody of roughly two and a half months, so the court reduced his substantive jail term to the period already served.

Context

Section 354 IPC deals with assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty, a lower‑grade offence than rape under Section 376, which requires proof of penetration. Indian courts therefore need concrete physical evidence to sustain an attempt‑to‑rape charge.