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Synopsis

The Kerala High Court, terming the trend of complaints of sexual abuse by parents of their own children during custody battles as ‘shameful’, granted bail to a woman accused by her estranged husband of sexually assaulting their 1.5-year-old child.

A Single Judge bench comprising Justice PV Kunhikrishnan, observed: “the way the matrimonial disputes are going in our society is shameful to all of us.”

The court also cautioned that complaints by men should not be presumed true without thorough scrutiny, just as unilateral complaints by women should not be blindly accepted. “There cannot be any unilateral investigation based on the complaint of a lady, treating it as gospel truth. The same principle is applicable vice versa too. The complaint of men against women need not be treated as gospel truth,” it remarked.

The case was filed by the father, who alleged that the mother of committing aggravated sexual assault on their child, under Sections 7, 8, 9(m), 9(n), and 10 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Denying the allegations, the petitioner, a breastfeeding mother, moved the High Court for bail, asserting that the accusations were false and motivated by an ongoing custody dispute between the parties.

According to the court, the case was part of a larger matrimonial dispute between the parents, who are also fighting over custody of the child. The court noted that the complaint was filed based on a hearsay statement from another woman. “It is surprising to see that, an FIR like this is registered based on hearsay,” the court said.

The court further observed that the investigation officer was not himself doubtful about the statement of the complainant and had submitted a report stating that more inquiry needed to be conducted before proceeding with the case.

The court also noted that the petitioner mother had alleged that the child was taken away by the complainant forcefully and that the police had not taken any action.

“It is unfortunate that a case like this is registered against a mother of a 1½ year old kid. She is a mother of a breast feeding child. She delivered a child in the relationship with the defacto complainant. It is alleged that the mother sexually abused her own daughter. Admittedly there is matrimonial dispute, and dispute about custody of the child between the father and mother,” the court observed.

The court also made it clear that if the investigation officer finds the allegations against the petitioner to be false, appropriate action should be taken against the complainant.

The court allowed the bail application, finding that “it is a fit case in which, if the petitioner is arrested, she should be released on bail on her own self bond.”

 

Cause Title: XXX v State of Kerala [BAIL APPL. NO. 2409 OF 2025]

Appearance: For the Petitioner- Advocates CA Chacko, CM Charisma, Babu VP, and Shahbas Aman CM; For the Respondent/ State- Senior Public Prosecutor Noushad KA.