The Delhi High Court acquitted a man sentenced to life imprisonment for allegedly raping a 14-year-old girl, noting insufficient evidence of sexual assault. The survivor’s vague statements about “physical relations” did not establish a clear case under the POCSO Act. The judges emphasized that doubts should favor the accused, highlighting discrepancies in the trial court’s findings.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has acquitted a man sentenced to life imprisonment for allegedly raping and sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The case, titled Sahjan Ali Through Parokar Banu Khatun v. State Through SHO PS Madhu Vihar, was reviewed by a bench comprising Justice Prathiba M Singh and Justice Amit Sharma.
The Court concluded that the minor’s statements did not provide clear evidence of sexual assault or intercourse. It noted,
“The survivor, in fact, used the phrase ‘physical relations’, but there is no clarity as to what she meant by using the said phrase. Even the use of the words ‘samband banaya’ is not sufficient to establish an offence under Section 3 of the POCSO Act or under Section 376 IPC.”
The bench emphasized that although consent is immaterial under the POCSO Act if the survivor is a minor, the phrase ‘physical relations’ cannot be automatically interpreted as sexual intercourse or assault.
“The fact that she voluntarily went with the Appellant is also not disputed. However, the leap from physical relations or samband to sexual assault and then to penetrative sexual assault is one which has to be established on record by means of evidence, and the same cannot be presumed or deduced as an inference,”
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the Court observed.
The judges concluded that in such cases, “the benefit of doubt ought to be in favour of the accused.”
The case originated from a complaint by the minor’s mother, alleging that her daughter had been lured and kidnapped by an unknown individual. The girl later informed the police about a ‘physical relationship’ between her and the accused.
Based on this statement, the trial court convicted the accused and sentenced him to life imprisonment. However, the High Court found several discrepancies in the trial court’s findings.
During cross-examination, the minor stated that the accused neither assaulted her nor committed any inappropriate act. A medical examination also revealed no injuries or signs of assault.
The High Court criticized the trial court for convicting the man without clear evidence. It stated,
“It is thus unclear as to the manner in which the Trial Court came to the conclusion that there was any sexual assault by the Appellant. The mere fact that the survivor is below 18 years cannot lead to a conclusion that there was penetrative sexual assault.”
Advocates Yashvir Sethi, Amit Kumar Singh, Saksham Sethi, Pranav Sharma, and Manan Soni represented the accused. Additional Public Prosecutor Ritesh Kumar Bahri, along with Advocates Lalit Luthra and Divya Yadav, appeared for the State. The Delhi High Court’s standing counsel, Dinesh Malik, was supported by Advocates Puneet Jain and Kiffi Aggarwal.
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