NAGPUR: The Nagpur bench of Bombay high court has emphasised that a rape survivor‘s testimony should not be dismissed based on delay, acknowledging the societal challenges people face in reporting sexual assaults. The court’s remarks came while rejecting a man’s plea to overturn the life sentence handed down by a trial court for the rape of his minor daughter under the Pocso Act.
“In our conservative society, people go on the back foot when it comes to lodging a sexual assault complaint due to its repercussions,” a division bench comprising Justice Vinay Joshi and Justice Valmiki Menezes said in a recent judgment. The court refused to quash the life sentence, saying: “One can imagine the mental condition of the survivor when the protector and head of the family is the culprit.”
Despite the FIR being lodged five days after the crime on April 6, 2018, the court recognised the circumstances of the case involving rape by the girl’s father.
The convict, a labourer currently incarcerated in Nagpur central jail, challenged the trial court’s verdict, arguing that the girl’s mother and sister did not support her accusation.