A special court in the city has acquitted a 23-year-old in a case of sexually assaulting his then 15-year-old sister after she did not appear before the court to testify and his mother did not support the prosecution case.
The mother had said that her daughter falsely implicated her son as she had a love affair with someone that her brother did not like.
“Pertinent to note that the victim’s mother does not support the prosecution. She does not utter a single word against the accused, probably because he is her son. In fact, before police also she never gave a statement stating that her son molested her daughter. She has stated before the court that her daughter is now married and stays at her matrimonial home,” the court stated.
It noted that since the beginning the mother and the victim did not cooperate with the police in the investigation. Even the girl’s birth certificate was not furnished to the police, which is required to establish the victim’s age as a minor under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO). For want of particulars, the police were unable to collect her birth certificate from authorities, the court stated in its judgment.
It mentioned an affidavit filed by the mother expressing her unwillingness to disclose her daughter’s address. The mother said in the affidavit that her daughter does not have a mobile number and her in-laws do not know anything about the case. She apprehends that her married life will be spoilt if her in-laws know about it. She further said that her daughter is unwilling to come before the court for testimony.
The prosecution had closed evidence after the mother and the investigation officer were examined. The court had done away with the accused’s statement which is recorded at the end of the trial.
As per the Worli police station’s case, the mother had filed a missing report after her daughter had gone missing on 25 March 2016. After the daughter returned home the next day, she took her to the police station. There the daughter told the police that her own brother had taken her to a hall near a graveyard and sexually assaulted her. She had, however, refused to allow medical examination and her mother had not allowed her additional statement to be recorded.
