Archive · 1 Oct 2026
Uttarakhand High Court Upholds Conviction, Reduces Rape Sentence
The Uttarakhand High Court reviewed a case involving the rape of a 10-year-old girl.
The accused, Vijay Bahadur, had been convicted by a special court in 2018.
That court had sentenced him to 12 years in prison and fined him Rs 10,000.
Bahadur appealed the conviction and sentence.
His lawyers raised questions about the delayed police complaint and the forensic report.
The High Court said the girl’s statement and her brother’s account were consistent and believable.
It also said the medical report supported the prosecution’s case.
The court kept the conviction but reduced the prison term to 10 years because Bahadur had already spent more than nine years in prison.
The Uttarakhand High Court upheld Vijay Bahadur’s conviction in the rape of a 10-year-old girl.
The court reduced his sentence from 12 years to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment.
The bench cited his having already spent more than nine years and two months in prison.
The court found the victim’s and her brother’s testimony consistent and credible despite defense objections.
The original conviction included a Rs 10,000 fine, imposed by a Bageshwar POCSO court in February 2018.
- Who
- Vijay Bahadur; the 10-year-old victim; her brother; and the Uttarakhand High Court division bench of Justice Ravindra Maithani and Justice Siddharth Sah.
- What
- The High Court upheld Bahadur’s conviction but reduced his sentence from 12 years to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment.
- When
- The High Court delivered its verdict on Wednesday; the case originated in 2017 and the trial-court conviction was issued in February 2018.
- Where
- The incident occurred in the Kapkot area of Bageshwar district, and the appeal was heard by the Uttarakhand High Court in Nainital.
- Why
- The sentence was reduced because Bahadur had already spent more than nine years and two months in prison, while the conviction was upheld because the court found the testimony and medical evidence credible.
Defense Arguments
Court and Prosecution Findings
Reliability of evidence
Defense Arguments
The appeal raised concerns about the delayed FIR and issues with the Forensic Science Laboratory report.
Court and Prosecution Findings
The High Court found the victim’s and her brother’s statements consistent, credible, and steady during cross-examination, with the medical report supporting the case.
Conviction
Defense Arguments
Bahadur appealed the conviction imposed by the Bageshwar POCSO special court.
Court and Prosecution Findings
The division bench found no grounds to interfere with the conviction and upheld it.
Length of imprisonment
Defense Arguments
The original sentence was 12 years of rigorous imprisonment.
Court and Prosecution Findings
The court reduced it to 10 years because Bahadur had already spent more than nine years and two months in prison.
- Offence
- Rape of a 10-year-old girl
- Incident location
- Kapkot area, Bageshwar district
- Trial court
- POCSO special court, Bageshwar
- Original sentence
- 12 years of rigorous imprisonment and a Rs 10,000 fine
- Revised sentence
- 10 years of rigorous imprisonment
- Evidence cited
- The victim’s statement, her brother’s eyewitness account, and the medical examination report
- Defense objections
- Delay in filing the FIR and issues concerning the Forensic Science Laboratory report