The Telangana High Court has issued a significant directive for trial courts handling cases involving child victims of alleged rape, especially when there is no medical evidence to corroborate the claim. The court emphasized the need for a deeper understanding of what the child victim means by ‘rape‘ in their testimony.
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Justice K Surender, in a recent judgment, stated,
“When the victim is a child and in one word, she states that ‘rape’ was committed, it would become imperative in such cases when there is no other corroborating evidence, to know from the victim girl as to what is meant by her narration of ‘rape’.”
This statement underscores the court’s approach to dealing with sensitive cases involving child victims.
The judgment further elaborated that when a child victim claims to have been subjected to rape, the court may seek clarification from the victim by posing questions as outlined under Section 165 of the Indian Evidence Act.
“The said understanding of the victim as to what is meant by word ‘rape’ by the Court concerned is for the reason of the specific requirements given under Section 3 of the [POCSO] Act of 2012 as to what constitutes penetrative sexual assault and what constitutes ‘rape’ under Section 375 IPC,”
the judgment explained.
The Court also noted that while it is generally acceptable to take a victim’s statement on rape at face value in cases where the victim is a married woman or has an understanding of what constitutes rape, the same approach may not be suitable when dealing with child victims. The Court observed that in the case at hand, there was no evidence on record to indicate that the victim had knowledge about the sexual act or what constitutes ‘rape’.
The judgment further stated,
“When there is no corroborating medical evidence or any other oral corroborative evidence, the Court has to place reliance on the testimony of the victim. If the testimony inspires confidence of the Court, the sole testimony can be made the basis to convict the accused. However, in the cases where a statement is made that the accused had committed ‘rape’, the Court has to be cautious before concluding that the offence of rape has been committed.”
This directive from the Telangana High Court is a crucial step in ensuring a more nuanced and sensitive approach in trials involving child victims of sexual assault, particularly in cases where corroborative evidence is lacking. It highlights the importance of understanding the perspective and comprehension of the child victim in such sensitive cases.
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