Mother Was 'Shocked' To Find Unmarried Daughter Pregnant, Delay In Reporting To Police Justified: Kerala HC Quashes Case U/S 19 POCSO Act

The Kerala High Court has held that the trauma and shock of a mother coming to know of her minor, unmarried daughter's pregnancy is a justifiable reason for delay in informing the POCSO offence to the police. Justice A. Badharudeen observed that in one way the mother can also be considered the victim of the crime and thus, prosecuting her under Section 19 of the Act is like “putting chilly powder on the deep wound”.“.. the trauma and shock in the mind of the mother when she hears information that her unmarried daughter is 18 weeks pregnant would normally marque the mind of a mother to indecisiveness, inactiveness and dilemma. In such cases, the mother would definitely need some reasonable time to return to normalcy. Then also the trauma may dangle on the intellectual capabilities of the mother for quite a long time. During the initial stages of the said period, omission, if any, to inform the matter to the police, is justifiable from the attending circumstances as discussed”The petitioner found out that her 17-year old daughter was 18 weeks pregnant when she took her daughter to hospital as she was complaining of abdominal pain. The daughter was referred to Government Medical College for further care but the mother took her daughter to a private medical hospital to give her proper care. Meanwhile, the doctor informed the police about the issue and the statement of the victim was recorded in the presence of her mother. There was a 4-day period between when the mother realized her daughter was pregnant and when the police took the victim's statement. The mother was then booked under Section 20 and 19(1) of the POCSO Act for failure to report the incident to police. The mother was arraigned as the 2nd accused in the POCSO case. She approached the High Court to quash the case. The petitioner pointed to the ordeal and trauma she had to face if she is forced to face trial along with the offender who committed the crime against her daughter.The prosecutor agreed that the mother would have been in a state of shock after she was informed about her daughter's pregnancy. However, he said that it would not save her from prosecution for not following the statutory mandate under Section 19(1) of PoCSO Act.The Court said that it cannot be held that there was deliberate or wilful failure on the part of the mother to report the incident.Accordingly, Court allowed the petition.Counsels for the Petitioner: Advocates P. Sanjay, Rahul Raj P., Kiran Narayanan, Prasoon Sunny, Amrutha M. Nair, Paul Varghese, Biju MeenattoorCounsel for the Respondent: Adv. M. P. Prasanth (PP)Case No: Crl.MC 361 of 2023Petitioner: XXX v State of KeralaCitation: 2024 LiveLaw (Ker) 774Click Here To Read/ Download Order

Mother Was 'Shocked' To Find Unmarried Daughter Pregnant, Delay In Reporting To Police Justified: Kerala HC Quashes Case U/S 19 POCSO Act

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