HYDERABAD: Making it clear that absence of sperm does not automatically mean innocence in rape cases, a fast-track court for cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act, 2012 (POCSO) has sentenced an accused to life imprisonment.

The court’s observation on Monday came after the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) found no evidence of sexual assault against a 17-year-old survivor.

The case relates to a missing person complaint registered with the LB Nagar police in 2018. Four days later, the police found the girl at Secunderabad railway station. She told the police that the accused, identified as Kanakala Rajesh, took her to Visakhapatnam on false pretenses and assaulted her. The police then amended the case 366-A, 376(2)(n) of the IPC, Section 5(l) read with 6 of the POCSO Act and Section 3(2)(Va) of the SC and ST (POA) Criminal Law Amendment Act , 2015.

Following the procedure, the police sent the girl for a medical check-up, and the collected samples were sent to the FSL.

The FSL report said there was no evidence of sexual contact.

However, in its orders, the court said that forensic evidence such as the presence of sperm is only one type of evidence, but the absence of sperm does not equate to innocence. “Sperm detection is only relevant if there has been ejaculation. However, not all sexual assaults involve ejaculation, and even if ejaculation did occur, there may have been limited or no sperm deposition in the vagina, especially if the assault was brief or involved different types of sexual activity.” it is stated in the court order.

The defense counsel quoted the survivor’s statement to the court that the accused had come to her home four times and they had physical relations before going to Vishakhapatnam and said this was evidence of mutual consent.

However, the court showed that the victim was a minor at the time of the incident. “Under the principles of the law, minors are not considered legally capable of consenting to sexual intercourse. “Sexual relations with a minor under the age of consent are often categorized as statutory rape,” the court noted.

“It is a well-settled principle of law that the victim’s evidence is more than sufficient to establish the case, she being the victim, and no corroboration is required,” the prosecution said.