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Noting that a nine-year-old is not expected to remember all the details including her sexual assault history, a special court recently convicted a 29-year-old man of sexually assaulting the underage girl and sentenced him to 10 years in prison.
The man, who happened to be the girl’s relative, was visiting her house for lunch.
He would tell her to bring a portable charger upstairs to the house, after which he would sexually assault her on several occasions.
The prosecution comes forward after sexually assaulting the girl, and the man tells her not to reveal it to anyone.
The incident appeared when the victim complained of pain in her private parts, after which her mother inquired from her and discovered her relative’s assault and filed a complaint with the police.
In his defense, the accused said that he was falsely involved because of a quarrel between the victim’s family and him.
The man said that while the complaint indicated that one episode of sexual abuse occurred on June 2, 2016, the victim, who was seven years old, was not home because she had gone on summer vacation.
It is worth noting here that at the time the evidence was recorded, the victim was a nine-year-old girl. The court noted that it was neither expected nor possible for a nine-year-old girl to remember all the details.
“It is also appropriate to point out here that it is not true that the alleged incident occurred only on June 2, 2016. According to the prosecution, the alleged incidents took place from June 2 to August 29, 2016. Therefore, the submission is that the alleged incident occurred,” the special court said. It cannot fall on June 2, 2016, it is baseless.
The court also said that although the victim did not give specific dates, her testimony could not be dismissed. The court also considered the medical evidence and the girl’s testimony.
The court said that although she was nine years old at the time of her testimony, she was subjected to intense cross-examination by the defendant’s attorney, amounting to 16 pages. “However, the victim vigorously denied the insinuations made to her that no such incident had occurred,” the court said.
The court found the accused guilty under Section 377 (Unnatural Sex) of the Indian Penal Code and under the relevant provisions of the POCSO Act and sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment.
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