Just recently the Madras High Court had held that in cases of sexual assault where the victim is a minor, the court should believe what is reported by the child. Many had questioned the logic behind this and argued that this could be misused. Now a case has surfaced where a ‘rape victim’ told the court that she had lied about the sexual assault.
The incident was reported from Jhunjhunu district in Rajasthan, earlier this month. The complainant, who claimed to be a minor at the time had filed a police complaint alleging that on January 1, 2018, she was abducted and raped when she was heading to Gudha town to submit her scholarship form.
A case was filed under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) based on the complaint and the statement by the girl’s mother.
However, when the case came up for a trial, the duo changed their earlier statement and claimed that she was never raped. The girl also told the court she was not a minor as stated in the police complaint and added that they filed the complaint after the villagers compelled her to do so.
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After both the victim and her mother, a witness in the case turned hostile the court acquitted the accused in the case.
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The POCSO court hearing the case, however, took serious note on the u-turn by the duo and under Section 193 (false evidence) and issued a notice to them.
The court has also sought a reply from the district collector on if any compensation was granted under the SC/ST Act to the complainant.
“It was my humble submission before the court that woman had filed the rape case under POCSO Act, and the resources of the state machinery were marshalled for the pursuance of justice. Despite a charge sheet being submitted against the accused, the survivor and her mother completely backtracked from their earlier allegations,” special public prosecutor, Lokendra Singh Shekhawat told The Times of India.
Incidents like this are a challenge to the judicial system, which often tend to side with the complainant, in rape cases.
Last month while upholding the 10-year rigorous imprisonment for a man who was accused of raping a five-year-old girl, the Madras High Court had said that “in cases of rape victims, the Court has to believe what is reported by the child. There are misconceptions that children lie or that they are tutored by parents to make false complaints against others. Such myths should not affect the manner in which the Court responds to cases of child sexual abuse.”
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