A 6-year-old child is not expected to know the full name of the person who raped her, observed the Bombay High Court while upholding conviction of a man who was arrested after the child gave his nickname to the police.
A division bench of Justices Vibha Kankanwadi and YG Khobragade of the Aurangabad bench of the HC noted that it cannot be said that the man is being implicated in the crime as the child’s mother gave his full name after the child revealed the nickname of the person who raped her
Cannot expect from a girl of six years to tell full name of convict: HC
The bench said: “It cannot be expected from a girl of six years that she would tell the full name of the other person, who is residing in the nearby area. She would know that person with the first or last name/surname or may identify that person by the name of the person's child/children i.e. father of a particular boy/girl. Giving full name of the accused by the mother from the said nickname therefore cannot be viewed from an angle of implication of the accused.”
The HC was hearing an appeal filed by the man challenging his conviction under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The special court sentenced him to 15 years in prison.
Victim was raped in 2012, identified accused with nickname
In 2012, when the victim was 6 years old, one evening she came home crying and injured. On inquiry, disclosed that a man took her to the riverbank, threatened her, and raped her.
An FIR was registered. Since the victim was in shock, the police recorded her statement after three days. She said that “Satya” raped her. Thereafter. Her mother informed the police about the man’s full name since he resided in their area.
Child tutored to depose against me, says convict; HC disagrees
He contended in his appeal that the child was tutored to depose against him. However, the prosecution argued that the medical evidence corroborated the victim’s statement.
The court noted that the child in her testimony described the incident and identified the present accused.
The bench also noted that there was no fault in late disclosure of the name of the accused by the child observing that she was in severe pain due to the incident.
The court refused to show leniency to the man saying: “The accused has committed one of the heinous crime. The life of a small child aged 6 has been ruined. The rape on a victim leaves a scar throughout the life and, therefore, there is no question of showing leniency to such accused person.”
