Colombo, Oct. 13 (Daily Mirror) - The Court of Appeal has set aside the conviction and 12-year rigorous imprisonment sentence imposed on a man for grave sexual abuse, holding that the medical evidence and other circumstances of the case raised a reasonable doubt about his guilt. The Court observed that although the victim alleged that she had contracted Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 (HSV-2) from the accused, a medical report stated that there was no evidence of sexually transmitted infections in the accused at the time of examination.
Court of Appeal two-judge bench comprising Justices Amal Ranaraja and Dr. Sumudu Premachandra allowed the appeal filed by accused, who had been convicted by the Embilipitiya High Court, and ordered that he be acquitted and discharged.
The prosecution had relied on medical evidence indicating that the 13-year-old victim had physical signs consistent with Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 (HSV-2), commonly associated with genital herpes. The prosecution maintained that the medical findings supported the victim’s account of the alleged abuse. However, the sexually transmitted infection (STI) report relating to the accused confirmed that there was no evidence of sexually transmitted infections at the time of the examination.
The Court observed that the accused had also undergone a medical examination by a Consultant Venereologist, whose report, marked as evidence, recorded no evidence of sexually transmitted infections at the time of the examination.
Justice Premachandra held that the medical evidence concerning the victim’s condition, considered alongside the findings relating to the accused, created a reasonable doubt about the prosecution’s account. He further observed that the trial judge had disregarded the relevant medical report, resulting in a misdirection on the facts.
The Court also examined discrepancies between the victim’s initial statements and her testimony in court, including differences concerning the circumstances of the alleged incident and the threats she claimed had prevented her from reporting it earlier.