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Synopsis

The Allahabad High Court has recently granted bail to a man accused of raping and forcing his minor daughter into prostitution. Court observed that though the 17-year-old victim's narration of facts remained consistent in the FIR and in her statements recorded later, there was a factor of improbability.

While highlighting that the mother of the victim had never protested or lodged any FIR despite allegedly being aware that her daughter was undergoing sexual assault for several years, the bench of Justice Saurabh Shyam Shamshery emphasized that the victim had narrated a number of incidents of rape by a number of persons during a period of many years, however, she was not able to point out a single place of occurrence as well as a single date or month of occurrence.

The single judge bench, while granting relief to the accused, also took into account the fact that all the co-accused had already been granted bail by the high court against whom also allegation of rape was leveled.

The FIR in the case was lodged by the victim herself.  The victim had stated that when she was in class sixth, her father raped her for the first time and thereafter, he not only repeatedly raped her but also put her in a prostitution racket.

In the FIR, the victim had narrated how her father himself presented her before other men, who raped her. The victim had also described that even her relatives (uncles) also raped her and women of her family helped them in committing acts of rape.

The victim had alleged that sedatives were used on her and her mother and in all, she had named 25 accused persons including her father, close relatives, her family friends, and other persons and women of her family, who helped in the said crime.

Pressing for bail, the counsel for the victim's father argued that the story of the victim, on the face of it, appeared to be not only concocted but improbable also. 

It would be beyond imagination that victim was repeatedly raped by her father, her close relatives and the applicant put her into prostitution and it continued for many years, the counsel for the victim's father asserted. 

He also highlighted that though the alleged crime continued for many years, the victim had never raised any alarm or called the police or reported the matter before police authorities.

During the hearing in the bail plea, court also called the Chairperson of, the Child Welfare Committee, Lalitpur, to get first-hand information about the victim. The CWC Chairperson told the court that the victim was given an option for psychological counselling but she had refused. 

Furthermore, before parting with the judgment, Court opined that in rape cases of a minor girl, it is not a mere formality of the Child Welfare Committee to comply with statutory provisions but a more cautious approach is required.

"In such cases, victim should be dealt with extra care and responsibility and for that members of Child Welfare Committee required a trained support system, who can undertake counselling of such victims keeping in view their sufferings," the court said. 

Therefore, court directed the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of U.P., Lucknow through its Secretary to consider initiating the process of interaction with all stakeholders in order to make Child Welfare Committee and its Members more competent, more responsible, more generous and more compassionate to deal with such cases.

"While undertaking above exercise it shall also take note the provisions of Rule 35 of JJ Rules, 2019 which provides mental health for children at Child Care Institution," the court directed. 

While directing the Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of U.P., Lucknow to file a report on the abovementioned issue, court asked the registry to list the matter after six months before appropriate bench "only for perusal of report".

Case Title: XYZ....v State of UP and Others