Mumbai: “Tears of a child victim must be understood for their true worth. This silence cannot benefit the respondent (accused / convict). The silence here is that of a child,” the Bombay High Court observed while upholding the life sentence of a man who kidnapped and raped a four-year-old girl in Dahisar in 2012.
The man abducted the minor, who lived on a footpath, when she went to buy chocolates at 9:30 PM. The intoxicated accused returned her to her parents around 11:30 PM, claiming he found her crying at a nearby bus stop with a fleeing stranger. The child was bleeding from her genitals, and a medical examination confirmed sexual assault. The man was arrested after the girl confided in her mother following the examination.
A Borivali sessions court convicted the man to life imprisonment on November 8, 2017, which he challenged in the HC. Advocate Tanvi Tapkire, representing the accused, questioned the prosecution’s case, citing a two-hour delay in filing the FIR. She also pointed out that the mother did not immediately inform the father, suggesting the possibility of the victim being tutored.
Tapkire further argued that inconsistencies in the chain of custody of forensic samples before reaching the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) cast doubt on their authenticity.
However, the court emphasised the victim’s consistent testimony, stating that higher weightage is given to the testimony of victims in sexual offense cases. “It is settled law that an accused can be convicted solely based on the complainant / victim’s evidence, provided it inspires confidence, and corroboration is not mandatory,” a bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Neela Gokhale ruled on Friday.
The judges noted that the parents’ testimonies provided a consistent sequence of events. The victim, despite being only eight years old when testifying about an incident from when she was four, “narrated the entire incident in graphic detail”, and identified the accused (during her testimony before the trial court) “without hesitation”.
The girl confided in her mother after the hospital examination, not while being taken there. The mother informed the father two hours later, leading to the FIR being lodged. Dismissing the defense’s argument of tutoring during this period, the HC stated, “It is quite normal for a minor child of 4 years to be more inhibited in confiding in a father than her mother.” Moreover, the mother’s decision to delay informing her husband was justified as he had recently undergone surgery.
Addressing concerns about the forensic samples, the court noted the absence of any suggestion of tampering during cross-examination. Crucially, DNA analysis of the victim’s swabs matched the accused’s blood sample, providing strong scientific corroboration.
“Thus, the prosecution has established its case against the Appellant beyond all reasonable doubt through legal, admissible, and cogent evidence,” the bench concluded, upholding the man’s conviction and life sentence.
