Seriousness of an offence against a child is not diluted by financial support to the family, the Delhi high court has said, while denying bail to a man accused of raping a 12-year-old girl.
In his petition, the accused said he was falsely implicated since he was allegedly in a consensual relationship with the girl’s mother. He added he was financially supporting the family, which the girl resented. The accused claimed the girl’s mother even visited him in jail.
The Delhi Police opposed the bail, saying the girl consistently supported the prosecution’s case in her statements recorded before them and a magistrate, which lends credibility to her version.
A bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma on January 14 said the gravity of an offence against a child cannot be judged through the conduct of a third party when the minor has come forward and disclosed the abuse. “The offence complained of is against a child, and its seriousness cannot be assessed through the conduct of a third party. Where a minor has herself come forward and consistently disclosed abuse, the court is duty-bound to accord due weight to her version while considering the prayer for bail,” it said.
The court said the mother’s alleged conduct, even if assumed to be correct, cannot be a sole ground to doubt the minor’s version. “The submission made on behalf of the applicant that the mother of the prosecutrix had visited the accused in jail or had allegedly accepted money from him does not, in the opinion of this court, at this stage, dilute the gravity of the offence.”
The accused was booked in 2021 under the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act for allegedly taking the girl to a room on the pretext of talking and sexually assaulting her.
The girl alleged the accused repeatedly sexually assaulted her, videographed the assaults, confined and threatened her with dire consequences.
www.hindustantimes.com
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