The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that the delay in lodging an FIR in a rape case is not of much “significance” as the victim has to gain the courage to come out in open and expose herself in a “conservative social atmosphere”.
“In rapes cases the delay in filing the FIR by the prosecutrix or by the parents in all circumstance is not of significance. The authorities of this court have granted adequate protection/allowance in that aspect regard being had to the trauma suffered, the mental and physical stress that creates the pressure in the mind of the victim, to gather the courage to expose oneself in a conservative social circumstances.
“Sometimes the fear of social stigma and on occasions the availability of medical treatment to gain normalcy and above all psychological inner strength to undertake such a legal battle,” a bench of justices Dipak Misra and NV Ramana said. The observations came while hearing an appeal filed Md Ali against the judgement of Allahabad High Court which had awarded 10 years rigorous imprisonment for kidnapping and raping a 14-year-old girl in 1996.