PRAYAGRAJ, June 28 -- While observing that an old or torn hymen cannot give the benefit of doubt in rape case if the testimony of victim is reliable, the Allahabad high court upheld the 1983 conviction and three years' sentence of an accused of rape in a case dating back to 1982.

The high court also clarified that rape is a legal term and not a medical term. The bench of Justice Santosh Rai clarified that a hymen may be torn due to different factors such as sports, cycling, gymnastics, horse-riding, extraneous physical labour or accidental injury etc.

The court further noted that some individuals are born with a perforated or absent hymen, while in some others, it is highly elastic and hence medical findings of this nature cannot overri...