A special Pocso court in Mumbai has acquitted a 35-year-old man, who spent 12 years in jail, of gang-raping a minor girl, citing a doctor's statement and a delay in filing the First Information Report (FIR).
Court's Observations
The judge noted that the victim's date of birth was not conclusively established. The medical report indicated a different date of birth than the one claimed by the prosecution. The doctor who examined the girl testified that a ruptured hymen could result from non-sexual activities and that it was impossible to determine when or how the rupture occurred.
Special Judge N D Khose remarked, "Only rupture of hymen cannot be the sole criterion to opine about the sexual intercourse," especially since no other physical injuries or forensic links were found.
Delay in Filing FIR
The judge also took a dim view of the two-day delay in filing the police report, which remained unexplained throughout the trial. "If there is an inordinate, unexplained delay in registration of FIR, there is every scope to draw inference that the same FIR might have been registered as an afterthought," the judge said.
The court further noted that the victim's mother admitted that neighbors had advised her to lodge the complaint, raising questions about the spontaneity of the report.
Prosecution's Case
The prosecution had alleged that the girl was repeatedly assaulted over a month at a residence in Dahisar East. According to the mother's complaint, the girl began complaining of abdominal pain in late 2014, which was initially ignored. The matter escalated on October 31, 2014, when the mother returned home to find the girl missing and eventually discovered her at the house of the accused. The victim later alleged that the accused, along with another man and a minor boy, had shown her obscene videos on a mobile phone and established physical relations through threats of violence.
The judge concluded that the "prosecution has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that, before one month of November 2, 2014, at different dates and at different times, the accused, along with the co-accused, committed rape on the victim."
