Dying Declaration By Rape Victims

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Dying Declaration by Rape Victims: A Critical Analysis Dying Declarations are the statements made by a dying person as to injuries which culminated in his death or the circumstances under which the injuries were inflicted . Statements made by a deceased long prior to the occurrence resulting in death are not Dying Declaration and not admissible in Indian Evidence Act . The general ground of admissibility of the evidence is that no better evidence is to be had. Dying declaration is based on the maxim “Nemo moriturus praesumitur mentire” which means ‘a man will not meet his maker with a lie in his mouth’. It operates as an exception to the hearsay rule . Hearsay evidence is excluded because it is considered not sufficiently trustworthy. It is rejected because it lacks the sanction of the tests applied to admissible evidence i.e. the oath and cross examination . They are not given any importance in the courts because the person who is giving this evidence is not telling his experiences but that of another person and who cannot be cross examined to verify the facts. It is an exception because if this evidence is not considered the very purpose of the justice will be forfeited in certain situations when there may not be any other witness to the crime except the person who has since died. A Dying Declaration as envisaged by S 32 of the Indian Evidence Act need not necessarily be from a person who is dying at the time of making the statement. In addition, at the time of making such declaration, it is necessary that he or she should know that there is impending death. In other words, at the time of making such declaration it is a legal mandate that such person must entertain expectation of death. A rule peculiar to criminal cases is the exception to the rule respecting hearsay evidence which renders dying declarations as to the cause of death admissible in trials for
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