Madras High Court Upholds Conviction Of Child Rapist, Says Court Should Always Believe The Child Victim’s Statement.

Source – indiatimes.com

The Madras High Court has upheld the 10-year rigorous imprisonment for a man who was accused of raping a five-year-old girl, more than eight years ago.

The bench headed by Justice S Vaidyanathan noted that “in cases of rape victims, the Court has to believe what is reported by the child. There are misconceptions that children lie or that they are tutored by parents to make false complaints against others. Such myths should not affect the manner in which the Court responds to cases of child sexual abuse.”

The Court was dealing with an appeal filed by one, Ganapathy, against a trial court verdict sentencing him to ten years rigorous imprisonment and a Rs 2,000 fine for the rape of a five-year-old girl in 2011.

Challenging the conviction, his counsel had argued that the girl’s testimony was untrustworthy as there was a two-day delay in lodging the police complaint and witnesses turning hostile in the case.

The High Court, however, rejected the argument.

“It is a natural human conduct of the parents of the victim to have some reluctance to rush to the Police station and to make the entire event public, as it will have worst consequences on the future of the child. Thus, in the considered view of this Court, the delay has been duly explained and the said delay does not create any doubt at all in the case of the prosecution.”

The court also noted of the testimony given during the chief examination of a medical examiner that “the pain suffered by the victim while getting up, cannot be imitated.”