Mumbai: A court here granted bail to a 55-year-old man who was accused of raping his 11-year-old daughter. The court granted him bail pointing out that the child had not alleged rape in her statement recorded before the magistrate. The rape complaint was filed by his wife.
In the statement recorded under Sec 164 of the CrPC before a judicial magistrate, the magistrate makes sure that the statement is given voluntarily and without pressure. Special judge under the POCSO Act NT Ghatge that though in her police statement the child had alleged rape, in the statement before the magistrate after about 20 days she had not said anything about it and only said that her father used to beat her mother, her brother and herself under the influence of alcohol and drive them out of home at night.
The FIR was lodged in September 2020 and her father was arrested the same day. The court also said that it is significant to note that the alleged incident took place in 2018 and that there is “considerable delay of more than 18 to 20 months” in lodging the complaint.
The man’s advocate had told the court arguing for the man's bail that the applicant had been falsely implicated as he is an alcoholic and used to trouble the family day and night, the reason his wife wanted him behind bars.
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