Financial aid to victim’s kin doesn’t lessen gravity of sexual assault: Delhi HC

The case stems from the victim’s allegation that the man lured her to a room and sexually assaulted her.

The seriousness of an offence against a child is not diminished simply by the accused lending financial support to the victim’s family, the Delhi High Court has held, as it denied bail to a man accused of repeatedly raping a 12-year-old girl.

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A bench of Swarana Kanta Sharma, in an order made public on January 21, rejected the bail petition of the accused, who was arrested under the Indian Penal Code and the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act in 2021.

The case stems from the victim’s allegation that the man lured her to a room and sexually assaulted her. She further alleged that he committed aggravated penetrative sexual assault on multiple occasions, recorded the acts on his mobile phone, confined her, and threatened her with dire consequences if she disclosed the incidents.

In his bail petition before the high court, the man had asserted that he had been falsely implicated since he was in a consensual relationship with the victim’s mother and had been financially supporting the family, which allegedly caused resentment in the child. He also asserted that the victim’s mother had visited him in jail.

The Delhi Police opposed the bail, arguing that the minor victim had consistently supported the prosecution’s case in her statements to both the police and a magistrate, lending strong credibility to her account.

In its eight-page order dated January 14, the court categorically dismissed the accused’s arguments. It held that the mother’s alleged visit to jail or acceptance of money could not, at this stage, dilute the gravity of the offence against the child.

“The submission made on behalf of the applicant that the mother of the prosecutrix had visited the accused in jail or had allegedly accepted money from him does not, in the opinion of this court… dilute the gravity of the offence. The alleged conduct of the mother, even if assumed to be correct, cannot be a sole ground to doubt the version of the minor.”

Emphasising the primacy of the child’s testimony, the court observed, “The offence complained of is against a child, and its seriousness cannot be assessed through the conduct of a third party. Where a minor has herself come forward and consistently disclosed abuse, the court is duty-bound to accord due weight to her version while considering the prayer for bail.”