The Meghalaya Court recently ruled a decision that lack of witnesses in sexual assault cases brought under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence (POCSO) Act cannot be a defence used to absolve the guilty in such situations.
A bench consisting of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice W Diengdoh said that these offences are usually done secretively after the accused lure the survivors to locations that are remote and hidden. The bench added that the molesters will not do the job in an open public view.
In an order on Wednesday, June 7, the court stated that such incidents cannot be condemned as being false as the survivors are children.
The order reads: "The law that has developed requires the allegation of the survivor to be taken seriously and, if found to be credible, to accept the same ... When the survivor is a child, it is difficult to imagine that a story would be conjured up out of nothing and the same would be consistently repeated."
The bench added that the statement that the accused won't be let off the hook unless the court finds that the child can be precocious enough to make out a story or consistently repeat the same thing in their statement.
The court also debunked the idea that unsubstantiated claims and vehement denials by the accused in such situations should imply that the survivor's story is false. The observations were made while rejecting the appeal of a tutor who had been found guilty of aggravating sexual assault against a nine-year-old student.
During the course of the investigation, a medical check revealed tears and abrasions in the survivor's private parts. The petitioner's case focused on the lack of an examination during the trial to corroborate the charges against his brother and another student who were paying tuition at the time.
The court ruled that the case was "open-and-shut" due to the survivor's credible and clear testimony, the medical documentation and the absence of any flaws in the trial court's order and processes.
