Orissa High Court upholds conviction of “vulture like” POCSO accused who assaulted class 7 student in broad daylight

The Orissa High Court recently upheld the conviction of a person under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 (POCSO Act) for sexual assault on a class VII girl (Lilu @ Ashok Kumar v State of Odisha)..Single-judge Justice SK Sahoo said that the "vulture like" accused committed the crime in broad daylight and in the presence of the minor sister of the victim..“The case at hand depicts the bitter experience of an innocent teen aged helpless victim girl while returning from school in the broad day light on the public road, when the vulture like appellant committed the most ghastliest crime known under the sky on her in presence of her minor sister,” the Court said. It, therefore, upheld the conviction of the convict under Sections 341 (wrongful restraint) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 4 (penetrative sexual assault) of the POCSO Act.The Court, in its judgment, also quoted the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi who said “India will be free when the women feel safe to walk in the streets of India in the midnight”, Despite of unbridled socio-economic development, this dream of Mahtma Gandhi still fell short of reality because humans could not rise to that standard, the Court said..The vulture like appellant committed the most ghastliest crime known under the sky on her.Orissa High Court .Th class VII girl was wrongfully restrained and assaulted sexually while she was returning home from school on her bicycle with her younger sister. On hearing her sister’s screams, villagers nearby arrived at the scene but the accused had fled by then..The defence argued that there was a minor accident with the young girl which was turned into a false claim of rape when her family members did not ascertain the correct facts..However, the prosecution relied on the testimonies of as many as thirteen witnesses. In fact, the victim herself made a statement that the accused inserted his finger in her private part, and the statement was supported by witnesses and evidence..The trial court had held that the evidence of the victim was clear and cogent and sexual assault was meted out to her by the accused. Since the act came under the ambit of “penetrative sexual assault‟ as per section 3(b) of the POCSO Act, the accused was held guilty.He was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for seven years and a fine of ₹5000 for the offence under POCSO and simple imprisonment for one month and to a fine of ₹500 for the IPC offence..The High Court held that there was no apparent infirmity in the trial court’s order and the sentence imposed was also justified. Further, in view of the victim’s age and the heinous offence committed against her, the Court recommended the case to the District Legal Services authority, Balasore to examine the case for grant of compensation under the enactment of the Odisha Victim Compensation Scheme, 2012 which was revised by Odisha Victim Compensation (Amendment) Scheme, 2018..[Read Judgement]