Mumbai POCSO Court Acquits 78-Year-Old, Cites Child’s Susceptibility To Tutoring And Hallucination

Mumbai: A special POCSO court in Mumbai acquitted a 78-yearold man booked in Sept ember 2018 for sexually harassing his neighbour’s nine-year-old daughter. The court, while acquitting the man, observed, “children of such age see something and may feel or hear that aren’t real.”

Special Judge Satyanarayan R. Navander, while acquitting the accused, noted, “At the time of incident, the victim was barely nine-years-old. It is a fact of common knowledge that the children of such a tender age are susceptible and prone to tutoring and hallucination, visual and/or auditory.”

“Children of such age see something and may feel or hear that aren’t real. There are many factors which govern such a mantle state. When it is so, the Court has to be extra cautious while dealing with the evidence of child witness, particularly when the report is filed after such a long period of time,” the court observed, noting the FIR was lodged with a nine-month delay, as the first incident allegedly occurred in January 2018.

As per the prosecution case registered with RCF police station, the victim resided opposite the accused’s house. The accused’s granddaughter was her friend. It was alleged that days after the granddaughter’s birthday in January 2018, the accused called the victim to his house,made her sit on his lap, fed her cake, and then opened her shirt’s top buttons, inserting his hand. The victim claimed the accused later stalked her, winking and making indecent signs.

The court noted the accused’s weak vision, leg implants, and mobility issues. It highlighted the prosecution’s failure to examine the victim’s friend and father, who allegedly interrupted the incident, or provide evidence from building residents about the accused’s behaviour.