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The Bombay High Court at Goa grants bail to accused charged with raping a minor girl on grounds of recent statements of the victim and her mother taken under Sec 164 CrPC

Title: Sunil Vithal v. State of Goa

Decided on: July 11, 2023

Citation: 2023 SCC OnLine Bom 1365

CORAM: HON’BLE JUSTICE M.S. KARNIK

Introduction

The Bombay High Court at Goa granted bail to an accused charged with offences under Section 376(3) of the Penal Code, 1860, Section 8(2) of the Goa Children’s Act, Sections 4, 6 and 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act) against a minor girl.

Facts of the Case

This is an application for bail for offences punishable under Sections Section 376(3) of the Penal Code, 1860, Section 8(2) of the Goa Children’s Act, Sections 4, 6 and 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act). The victim’s age at the time was 10 years and the accused’s was 46 years. The offence against the victim girl was committed in August 2020 when the victim had gone with her parents during Ganesh Chaturthi at the house of the accused where the victim’s mother was working as a house help. The incident was reported in May 2023 by the victim to the Counsellor of the boarding school. Apparently, the victim was traumatised and, therefore, did not earlier inform or report the incident to anyone.

Court Analysis and Judgement:

The Court took into account that after the applicant was arrested on 06.05.2023 and the investigation was completed, the statement of the victim was recorded under Section 164 of Cr. P.C. on 11.05.2023. In this statement, the victim stated that no incident has occurred with respect to her and she does not have any grievance or any complaint against anybody. The victim’s mother, in her statement, stated that she was not aware of any such incident that had taken place. The victim also refused to undergo a medical examination. The Court took into account all of these factors but refrained from making any observations on the merits of the contentions. The observations were limited to the consideration of this bail application and by taking an overall view of the matter, the applicant was released on bail for a bond of Rs. 25000.

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Written by- Reema Nayak