Mumbai: Pocso court acquits woman accused of failing to report daughter’s assault by stepfather | Mumbai News

A special Pocso court in Mumbai acquitted a 44-year-old woman accused of failing to report her minor daughter’s sexual assault by her husband after the daughter turned hostile.

MUMBAI: Five years after a now 44-year-old woman was accused under the Pocso Act for failing to report her minor daughter’s sexual assault by her husband, the child’s stepfather, a special Pocso court acquitted her this week.
The 14-year-old, who confided in her maternal aunt that her stepfather raped her multiple times and that her cries for help to her mother fell on deaf ears, turned hostile in court during trial. The stepfather died by suicide soon after the FIR was registered, and the case proceeded only against the mother.
“Allegations against the present accused are only that she helped accused no 1 [stepfather] to commit a sexual act with the victim, but since there is no evidence on record about the commission of physical relations by the deceased accused with the victim, the victim herself did not state anything about the present accused. Moreover, she admitted that she did not lodge a report against the present accused,” the judge said.
The judge further stated that the prosecution failed to examine remaining material witnesses, including panch witnesses, the medical officer, eyewitnesses, and other independent witnesses. “The evidence of the investigating officer is also not helpful to the prosecution to prove the incident, as the victim herself does not support the prosecution case at all on any material count,” the judge said.
The judge further noted that in the absence of any cogent, convincing, and reliable evidence, the prosecution has therefore miserably failed to prove ingredients of section 21 of Protection of Children From Sexual Offences Act. This section deals with punishment for failing to report or record sexual offence against a child. The maximum sentence is six months in jail.
The FIR was registered on Oct 26, 2019. The girl herself lodged a report at the police station, contending that her mother married the deceased accused. Her mother, stepfather, sister, and stepsister were living together. In Sept 2019, they moved to Goa. However, her maternal aunt brought her to Mumbai for Diwali.
The FIR stated that the girl informed her aunt that when she was 9-10 years old, her stepfather sexually harassed her when her mother went to work. Seeing her alone, he sexually assaulted her. When she started shouting, he threatened to kill her. He used to trouble her, but since he threatened her, she did not disclose it to anyone.