‘Victim holding grudge’: Bombay HC grants bail to man accused of raping stepdaughter
“It is very difficult to believe that for about five to six years, the victim did not confide even in her mother about what was going on,” the HC observed
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As per prosecution, the alleged sexual abuse began when the victim was in class 5 and continued until August, 2018, when she was over 17-year-old (Archive)The Bombay High Court, while granting bail to a man pending his appeal against conviction and life imprisonment for raping his minor stepdaughter, noted that the victim was holding a “definite serious grudge” against the man and there was a possibility that she may not be telling the truth.
“It is very difficult to believe that for about five to six years, the victim did not confide even in her mother about what was going on,” the HC observed.
On July 2, the court passed an order on interim application in the man’s appeal against the conviction. Pending disposal of the appeal, he sought to be released on bail, which the HC granted. He was convicted by the sessions court last year for offences of rape punishable under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
As per prosecution, the alleged sexual abuse began when the victim was in class 5 and continued until August, 2018, when she was over 17-year-old. She informed her maternal uncle after the last such incident, following which her mother lodged the complaint. An FIR was registered and the applicant was arrested in the same month. He was later released on bail during the trial and was again taken into custody after his conviction in July, 2024.
Senior advocate Ashok Mundargi argued for the applicant that the story was false and it was not possible that the girl could have kept quiet for nearly five to six years. Mundargi submitted that as per records, her mother did not support prosecution’s case during trial and there was no corroborative evidence against his client.
The lawyer also argued that the girl’s cross-examination showed that she had very definitive reasons to falsely implicate the applicant in the case, raising doubts over her version, therefore, the applicant should not be kept in custody based on weak evidence.
A bench of Justices Sarang V Kotwal and Shyam C Chandak noted that in her cross-examination, the girl stated that her mother had married the applicant out of a love relationship and her maternal uncle and grandfather were opposed to the said marriage. Admitting that she did not tell her mother about the alleged acts of the accused, the girl deposed that when the applicant and her mother saw some messages from a boy, they took her to his house and he slapped her. On another occasion, her mother saw a message from another boy and informed the applicant about it, when he broke her mobile phone and scolded her.
“These admissions show that the victim was holding a definite serious grudge against the Applicant who was her step father,” the judges noted.
“Thus, from this evidence, it is clear that there is a strong possibility that the victim may not be telling the truth. It is very difficult to believe that for about five to six years, the victim did not confide even in her mother about what was going on. Then, there is a background of the grudge which the victim was entertaining against the Applicant. Her version is not even supported by the medical evidence. Therefore, in this background, there is a strong possibility that it may be a case of false implication,” the HC observed and said the applicant “made out a case” for bail at this stage. The bench clarified that it made the observations only for deciding his bail application.
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