A special POCSO court in Mumbai acquitted a 60-year-old man accused of raping his granddaughter as it didn't find the girl's testimony "trustworthy".
Special Judge Kalpna Patil, presiding over the court set up under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, acquitted the accused on September 5, but a detailed order was made available on Friday.
The court, in its order, said, "Considering different names given by the girl at different stages of the investigation and her act of hiding the name of the person who was having physical relations with her, the oral evidence of the girl does not appear trustworthy." Her testimony was also not supported by any other evidence, the court noted.
As per the prosecution, the survivor, a minor, lived with her grandparents. In June 2018, the girl fainted before her grandfather and was taken to a hospital, where it came to light that she was pregnant.
On June 22, 2018, she gave birth to her daughter. Thereafter, her grandfather filed a police complaint against an unknown person, it said.
During the probe, the teen told the police she had established a physical relationship with a boy and subsequently got pregnant. Later, she gave another statement, saying her grandfather forcefully had sexual relations with her and also threatened her to not disclose this to anyone, the prosecution said.
The girl told the police she came to know about her pregnancy in October 2017 and informed the police about burn injuries on her privates, allegedly inflected by an elderly relative with cigarettes or matchsticks, it said.
The court order said the girl admitted that when she missed her menstrual cycle, she disclosed this to her friend and went to a hospital with her friend's mother.
Why did she not disclose the misdeeds of the accused to them? it asked.
The court said the girl admitted that the accused used to leave home and stay out on some days. Also, the accused, who is her grandfather, filed a missing person's complaint in 2015 when she left home without informing her family.
Further, the court noted that the girl was out of control of the accused for some days.
Her evidence is silent as to why during that period, the girl did not approach the police against the alleged sexual harassment or burn injuries inflicted by the grandfather, the prosecution asked.
"Considering all the facts and circumstances, I have come to the conclusion that the prosecution has failed to prove the charge against the accused," the judge noted.
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