Citing delay in FIR, accused’s age, court acquits 78-yr-old man booked for stalking girl

The case dated back to 2018, when a complaint was filed against the accused, alleging that he had sexually harassed his nine-year-old neighbour.

“The age of the accused was more than 70 years when the incident occurred. He and the victim’s family were neighbors… The building has no lift, as stated by the witnesses. With the  rods in legs, the old man used to climb the five-floor building with difficulty. He had undergone eye surgery twice.

When it is so, it is difficult to believe that he was winking and making sexual gestures,  while climbing the stairs, to a nine-year-old girl, who was of the age of his granddaughter. It is possibly a wrong perception of the girl, rather  than the reality,” the special court said in its order this week.

The complaint had said that the minor was around the same age as the accused’s granddaughter.

In January 2018, the complaint claimed that the victim had gone to the accused’s home for his granddaughter’s home, when the accused made her sit on his lap and tried touching her inappropriately.

He stopped when he saw two  persons at the party approaching him. It was alleged that later too he would wink at the minor girl or make gestures.

After one such incident, the victim informed her mother, who then approached the police.

The court said that the victim’s initial statement did not say that he had touched her inappropriately. On the other allegations of winking, the court said that the victim in her statement had not given any date for when these incidents took place. It also said that the complaint was filed in September, 2018.

“When there is a nine-month delay in reporting the matter to the police, the evidence of the victim cannot be accepted unless corroborated by some independent source.  At the time of the incident, the victim was barely 9 years old. It is the fact  of common knowledge that the children of such a tender age are  susceptible and prone to tutoring and hallucination, visual and/or auditory,” the court said.

It added that children of that age may “see something and may feel or hear that aren’t real and hence the court has to be ‘extra cautious’ while dealing with evidence given by child witnesses”, citing the delay.

The court also observed that the police had not cited any independent witnesses, from the building or two who were visiting the home of the victim when the incident had come to light.

It said that even her mother had not seen the accused winking or making gestures at her. In such a scenario, the court said, the victim’s testimony alone cannot be relied on.

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