Kerala POCSO Court convicts 63-yr-old neighbour for sexually assaulting 9-yr-old girl who was put in his care for a night

A Fast Track Special Court (POCSO) in Kerala recently convicted a 63-year-old man for sexually assaulting a 9-year-old girl and sentenced him to 7 years of rigorous imprisonment.

Special Judge Aaj Sudarshan of the POCSO Court, Thiruvananthapuram held that though there was a delay of 6 years in the registration of the FIR, it had been satisfactorily explained by the prosecution.

"Researches and studies show that there are numerous reasons why a child or even a grown up adult may not disclose about a sexual assault and it may linger at the bottom of their heart as their dirty, scary secret, but they open up or disclose it to someone they find they can confide in or someone whom they trust will listen to them and not judge them etc," court observed while passing the order.

The case of the prosecution was that the minor girl used to live with her grandparents in the year 2014. One night her grandfather fell ill and had to be taken to hospital at midnight. The accused, namely Sundaresan Nair, was their neighbour. The accused accompanied the minor's grandmother to take the grandfather to the hospital and the minor was left with the accused's wife at his house.

Later on, upon returning, the accused went to sleep on the same bed where his wife and the minor were sleeping. While the minor was asleep, the accused sexually assaulted her by inserting his hands inside her dress and pressed her chest and kissed her with sexual intent.

When the minor resisted, the accused pushed her hands aside and inserted his hands inside her panties and touched her vagina and caused pain to her vagina with his fingernails.

The incident unfolded when the victim disclosed it to her school counsellor when her mother took her for counselling in the year 2020 after she started exhibiting behavioural disorders, laziness, lack of interest in studying, loss of appetite etc.

The school counsellor had made the victim write the incident on a paper which was produced as evidence during the trial.

Thereafter, a complaint was lodged in January 2020, and charges under Sections 7 r/w 8, 9(m) r/w 10, 9(n) r/w 10 of the POCSO Act, 2012 were framed against the accused.

Before the Special Court, the accused claimed that the case was lodged at the instigation of victim's maternal aunt as a civil dispute regarding widening of a pathway to the house of the accused and the victim's family house was pending.

The court, however, rejected the defence argument which included that even if was assumed that the incident had taken place, how could a minor witness as to who was assaulting her at night in a room where the lights were switched off?

The court observed that the victim in her categorical statement had identified the accused as she saw his face from the mild light that was coming from the windows of the room.

Court also rejected the contentions of tutoring the victim stating that the evidence adduced in the case had revealed her non-awareness of any enmity between the two families.

Further, regarding the delay in FIR registration, court opined that it was due to the victim's introvert nature which made her to keep to herself her secrets, grief, happiness etc.

Court also held that the act of the accused was only with sexual intent as hugging, inserting his hand inside the victim's dress, pressing her chest and then inserting his fingers inside her panties could not be termed as something he had done with good intention.

Accordingly, court held the accused guilty of the offences punishable under Sections 7 r/w 8, 9(m) r/w 10 of the POCOS Act, 2012 under Section 235 (2) CrPC while acquitting him of the remaining charges.

Court sentenced him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of 7 years and to pay a fine of Rs.25,000.

Case Title: State v. Sundaresan Nair