Those who prevent sexual assault cannot be prosecuted for murder, rules Madras High Court

Madras High Court rules in favor of private defense for woman who killed husband attempting sexual assault, quashing murder case.

The right to private defence will be available not only to a victim of sexual assault but also to any other person who attempts to save her and therefore, such a person cannot be prosecuted for the offence of murder if the aggressor had died in the process, the Madras High Court has held.

Justice G. Jayachandran held so while quashing a murder case registered against a woman for having killed her husband when he attempted to sexually assault their 21-year-old daughter in an inebriated mood. The judge said, the assailant could be exempted from punishment even if she admits the offence.

The judge said, a counter affidavit filed by the Otteri police in Chennai clearly revealed that the deceased was lying on his daughter and gagging her mouth when the offence took place in 2022. On hearing the noise, the girl’s mother rushed to the spot and attempted to push him away.

When the woman couldn’t succeed in her attempt, she picked up a wooden knife and hit him behind his head. Still, he continued the sexual assault forcing the enraged mother to pick up a hammer and smash his head leading to instant death and consequent registration of the murder case.

The judge took note that the post-mortem report substantiates the statement given by the woman to the police and that it had also been corroborated by the statements given by her daughter to the police as well as a magistrate under Sections 161 and 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

“From the records, it is obvious that the deceased was in a drunken state and he tried to misbehave with his own daughter. To save the honour of his daughter, the petitioner herein, who is none other than the mother of the girl had committed the above offence,” the judge wrote.

He pointed out that Section 97 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) gives every person a right to defend his own body and the body of any other person against any offence affecting the human body. It also gives a right to defend movable or immovable properties against offences, such as theft, robbery and so on.