Victim's Mother Would Not Risk Minor Daughter's Future By Concocting Story Of Molestation Due To Enmity With Accused: Bombay High Court

In the conservative Indian society, a mother may concoct a story of her own molestation but would not jeopardize the future of her daughter by falsely implicating someone in a sexual harassment case, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court recently held. Single-judge Justice Govind Sanap while rejecting the argument of a man, convicted for sexually assaulting a girl, said that even in case of enmity, a family will not jeopardize the future of their minor girl by implicating the accused in a false case. "The sexual offence at the first instance is traumatic for the victim. In such a crime, where the girl is involved, an attempt is made to avoid reporting of such a crime. The reporting of such a crime can bring disrepute to the family. It can also invite stigmatic consequences for the victim as well as for the family," the judge observed in the order passed on July 8. The judge pointed out that the parents of the victim in the instant case had no reason to falsely implicated the accused. "If they wanted to falsely implicate the accused, then the mother of the victim would have created an imaginary story of molesting her own modesty. In our conservative society, even on account of family enmity, the future and career of the girl is not jeopardized. In my view, this is a strong circumstance in favour of the prosecution," the bench underscored. These observations were made while upholding the conviction and sentence of one Vinod Nichat, a resident of Wardha district, who was convicted for sexually assaulting a neighbourhood girl. As per the prosecution case, on November 27, 2018, the convict called the victim girl in his room and touched her inappropriately. He then unzipped his pants and asked the girl to touch him there. He even kissed the girl, however, the girl started shouting and left the room. She then went to her school as her parents had gone to the field work. After returning from school, she informed about the incident to her mother and subsequently a First Informant Report (FIR) was lodged with the local police. Among other arguments, one of the prime argument of the convict was that he was falsely implicated in the matter as the victim's family had personal animosity against him. The bench noted from the material on record that there was sufficient material to believe the testimony of the victim girl and thus upheld his conviction and also the sentence. Appearance: Advocate AM Balpande appeared for the Convict. Additional Public Prosecutor SS Hulle represented the State. Case details: Vinod Ganpatrao Nichat vs State of Maharashtra (Criminal Appeal 333 of 2023)Click Here To Read/Download Order

Victim's Mother Would Not Risk Minor Daughter's Future By Concocting Story Of Molestation Due To Enmity With Accused: Bombay High Court

Narsi Benwal

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