PANAJI: The Bombay High Court at Goa has overturned the conviction of a 28-year-old man from Mizoram in a 2019 resort assault case, ruling that the prosecution failed to establish his identity beyond reasonable doubt.
Lalrinnunga Lalfakzuala, who is currently lodged at Central Jail, Colvale, had challenged a Sessions Court verdict that found him guilty of offences including wrongful confinement, criminal intimidation, rape and attempt to murder. The trial court had awarded him a sentence of up to ten years of rigorous imprisonment.
The case was registered following a complaint by a 63-year-old woman who owned a resort. She alleged that an unknown person entered her room in the early hours of December 18, 2019, attacked and threatened her, sexually assaulted her and escaped from the premises.
While hearing the appeal, the High Court found significant deficiencies in the prosecution’s case, particularly regarding the identification of the accused. The Court observed that investigators had not conducted a Test Identification Parade, a key procedure often used to establish the identity of a suspect.
The Bench, headed by Justice Ashish Chavan, also noted that the prosecution relied heavily on the victim’s claim that she recognised the accused by his voice. However, no voice samples were collected from the accused and no forensic examination was carried out to support that claim.
The Court held that voice recognition, by itself, is not strong evidence and requires independent corroboration before it can be safely relied upon in a criminal trial.
It further observed that the accused was part of a larger group of employees working at the resort, raising the possibility of confusion due to similarities in speech patterns and accents among staff members.
After examining the evidence on record, the High Court concluded that the prosecution had not succeeded in proving the charges beyond reasonable doubt. As a result, it set aside the conviction and acquitted the appellant of all offences.
