More than eight years after three men were charged for sexually assaulting a minor, a Delhi court has acquitted them saying the charges were not proved "beyond a reasonable doubt".
Underscoring that the minor's testimony required "greater scrutiny and corroboration from other witnesses," the court said the statements of the alleged victim and her mother did not "inspire confidence" because of several contradictions and inconsistencies.
Additional Sessions Judge Shirish Aggarwal was hearing a case against the three accused 'D', 'S' and 'J' (original names withheld) who were charged under Section 10 (aggravated sexual assault) of the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in the alleged incident that took place on August 29, 2015.
The trio were also charged for committing the penal offences of criminal intimidation, voluntarily causing hurt and house trespass, while accused D was additionally charged under Section 12 (sexual harassment) of the POCSO Act.
"The present case has been registered on the allegation made by the complainant (minor) that the accused persons, who are her relatives had forcibly entered into her house, gave beatings to her, threatened her, held her hand with sexual intent and the accused D removed his clothes and used indecent language," the court noted in a recent verdict.
It added that except for extending threats, other allegations made by the minor were absent in her mother's complaint and there were multiple pre-existing disputes between the complainant's family and the accused.
According to the facts of the case, the mother made around two dozen complaints about being molested and beaten up by the trio in June and July 2015, following which Delhi Police warned her not to lodge false complaints, the court said.
Noting the evidence before it, the court said even if the trio held the complainant's hand, it was not with sexual intent or for sexual gratification.
Regarding the allegation of two accused staring at her with the wrong intention, the court asked how the complainant could "infer" their intentions.
"The testimony of child victim warrants greater scrutiny and corroboration from other witnesses," it said, referring to some judgments of the Supreme Court and Delhi High Court.
The bench said the deposition of the minor and her mother did not "inspire confidence" as there were "many contradictions and inconsistencies in their testimonies read with the other material on record".
The court also trashed the evidence presented to claim that the minor suffered injuries during the alleged incident.
It said merely because the Medico-Legal Case (MLC) mentioned abrasions on her body parts, it cannot be concluded that the injuries were caused by the accused in the manner described by the complainant.
The court noted the prosecution had provided a photocopy of the complainant's birth certificate to prove she was a minor on the alleged date of the incident.
However, the investigating officer (IO) did not verify the document's authenticity, nor did any municipal official prove the correctness of the certificate. So the photocopy was not admissible as evidence, it added.
"I am of the considered view that the prosecution failed to prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt. Consequently, accused D, S and J are acquitted for the offences...," the judge said.
Advocate Deepak Sharma appeared for the accused persons.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
