Mumbai POCSO Court Acquits Stepfather After Minor Retracts Sexual Assault Allegations

Mumbai: The special POCSO court acquitted the step father of a 14-year-old girl, who was booked for sexually assaulting her in June 2020, after the girl denied the allegations in her testimony.

Family Background and Custody Arrangement

It was alleged that the mother and daughter were HIV+ and after death of victim's father, the mother had left the girl with an NGO. The mother later married the accused who also is said to be HIV+.1

It is claimed that the accused and mother of the victim would bring the victim home during vacation and leave her back with the NGO. Thus, in July 2020, the woman had taken her daughter back and brought her back to NGO after a month.

NGO Volunteer Lodged FIR; Accused Arrested

The complainant, a volunteer from the NGO had claimed that in April 2022, when the mother and step father asked for permanent custody of the victim, she refusrf to go. When questioned, the girl alleged that her step father had sexually assaulted her during the period of July 2020 to September 2020. Hence, the volunteer lodged a case with Ghatkopar Police Station in April 2022 and the accused was arrested the next day. The accused remained in prison till he was acquitted by the court last week.

During the trial the victim did not support the prosecution case and denied that her step father ever sexually assaulted her. The defence lawyer claimed that the NGO has had got a false case registered to extract money from the accused. The prosecution, however, questioned why an NGO worker would give a false deposition.

Defence Alleges False Case; Prosecution Disputes Claim

The court after hearing contentions from both the sides noted that, "It is the contention of the defence that victim was alleged of theft in the institution and was also subjected to beating and harassment, hence, the parents wanted to take her back. However, though the NGO institution was not ready to given back the custody of victim to the parents, the parents have never complained to Child Welfare Committee neither they have ever approached the police. Thus, it is seen that the allegations of both sides are not proved either by the prosecution or the defence."

"The prosecution has failed to prove that the accused being stepfather of the victim has committed rape upon her or have made unwelcomes sexual overtures to have physical contact with her. As the victim has denied entire incident, there is no iota of evidence with the prosecution to prove that the Accused being the relative of the victim through guardianship (being step-father)," the court said while acquitting the step father.

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