The Court was hearing an appeal filed by the accused (appellant) against a trial court verdict convicting him under the POCSO Act and sentencing him to twenty years in jail.
On June 25, 2021, an FIR was lodged against the appellant, accusing him of having sexually assaulted a three-and-a-half-year-old girl.
The said allegation was made by the girl’s brother while giving a statement to a magistrate as part of an investigation into another POCSO case where the boy was the victim and the same appellant was the accused.
The minor boy claimed that he saw the appellant put his fingers into the mouth and anus of his sister. The Court was told that he later informed his parents about this incident.
However, there were inconsistencies between the version of events narrated by the boy and his father and the version narrated by the mother.
As recounted in the High Court order, the father said that the boy told him that the appellant had touched the minor girl’s private parts.
On the other hand, the mother said that the appellant removed her daughter’s frock and touched her all over her body and that she was bleeding from her vagina. The mother also said that she found that her minor daughter was unable to speak and was in a state of panic.
Source: Barandbench
