‘No injury’ defence fails, Kerala High Court upholds tea vendor’s 20-year POCSO term

The order added that “it is true that though the sexual assault at the instance of the appellant/accused started on June 1, 2020, the same was not disclosed till August 5, 2023. In this regard, the evidence of PW1 (survivor) is that he was afraid of his mother in the matter of disclosure. In a case of this nature, the evidence of PW1 need not be disbelieved as the same appears to be convincing.”

Justice A Badharudeen heard a man’s plea challenging his conviction under the POCSO Act.

Child’s tea visits turned into POCSO case

The prosecution’s case reveals that on various occasions during the period from June 1, 2020, to August 5, 2023, the accused, who was a tea vendor and a relative of the survivor’s father, enticed the 9-year-old boy by offering tea and brought him to his house in the absence of his wife and had sexual intercourse with him.

The prosecution alleged commission of “unnatural offence” under the IPC and sexual harassment and other relevant provisions under the Protection of Children From Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. On appreciation of evidence, the special judge found that the accused committed the offences and sentenced him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 20 years and to pay a fine of Rs 25,000.

Advocates A V Indira and Sreedevi S, appearing for the accused, a 61-year-old man, challenged the trial court’s conviction and sentence, arguing that the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, and stated that the survivor’s testimony was not reliable because he claimed repeated sex, though its occurrence was only mentioned on August 8, 2023.

It was submitted that the medical report did not show any injuries on the survivor, and the grandmother’s testimony reflected that a quarrel between the accused and the survivor’s mother had taken place before the complaint was lodged, suggesting that the criminal case was a false case arising from the dispute.

Public Prosecutor M A Shihab and advocate K Arvind, appearing for the boy, argued that his testimony was believable and corroborated by his family’s evidence. It was submitted that the accused used to give leftover tea to the survivor’s family and allegedly lured the child and sexually assaulted him whenever he came to collect it. The prosecution also relied on the mother’s testimony that earlier her elder son stopped collecting tea because of the accused’s inappropriate conduct.

‘Appeal dismissed, conviction upheld’

The court observed that the accused had enticed the child by offering leftover tea for his family, and subjected the child to sexual assault in the form of oral sex, which continued for more than three years, with the last occurrence taking place in the first week of August 2023.

The court held that the 20-year imprisonment awarded to the accused under Section 6 of the POCSO Act is both the maximum sentence and the statutory minimum prescribed for the offences. Therefore, the court said that no reduction in sentence was legally permissible and the verdict did not require any interference. It confirmed the conviction and sentence and dismissed the appeal.