Child's sexual assault complaint must be treated as credible, says Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has ruled that a child victim's direct disclosure of sexual assault is credible evidence under the Pocso Act, and the person to whom the disclosure is made is obligated to report the offence.
The Supreme Court has held that information given by a minor victim about sexual assault will be treated as credible, and the person receiving it will be legally bound to report it to the authorities, including the police, under the Pocso Act.
A bench of Justices Manoj Misra and KV Viswanathan said the phrase "has knowledge that such an offence has been committed" is not confined to direct knowledge, but also covers awareness based on information received directly from the child victim.
The ruling came in a case linked to a school in Arunachal Pradesh, where an eight-year-old girl had reported sexual assault by a senior boy to her teachers, elder sister and classmates. Setting aside orders of the Gauhati High Court and the trial court, the top court said they had erred in discharging the teachers and headmistress from charges linked to failure to report the incident and related offences.
The bench said, "Therefore, for the purposes of this Act, when a child victim reports to a person that he or she has been subjected to an offence, or is likely to be subjected to an offence, punishable under the Act, it could safely be concluded that the person to whom such information is provided by the child victim has knowledge that such an offence has been committed or is likely to be committed."
It added that the word "knowledge" is not defined in the Pocso Act, other Codes or Acts, or even the General Clauses Act, 1897, and so it must be understood in a way that serves the purpose of the law.
The court also said there could be situations where a child reports an incident without fully understanding the nature of the act. "In such cases, and also where the information provided by the child is either not clear or confusing, a brief questioning of the child may be justified to derive a lucid picture of the nature of the information which the child wishes to convey. However, such questioning should not be with a view to rubbish the complaint made by the child, rather it must be to understand the true and correct nature of the complaint," it said.
The court further said the High Court and the trial court were wrong in holding that the absence of visible signs of sexual assault meant there was no reason to believe an offence had been committed.
At the same time, the bench clarified that not everyone in the institution could be prosecuted. "However, not all teachers or office bearers of the institution need to be prosecuted for the offence punishable under Section 21 of the Act. Only those who received information directly from the victim, of her being subjected to sexual assault, could be prosecuted for failure to report," it said.
It added that others who were not told directly by the child and before whom the offence was not committed could not be prosecuted merely because they were allegedly present when a verification was carried out. The court noted that the victim had told her elder sister, her friend, the head girl and a teacher about the incident, but said the sister, friend and head girl could not be prosecuted as they were minors.
Partly allowing the appeal filed by the victim's mother, the court said there was enough material in the police report to raise grave suspicion against the teacher for framing charges under Section 21 of the Pocso Act and Section 176 of the IPC, and she was therefore not entitled to be discharged.
In sum, the Supreme Court has said that a child victim's direct account of sexual assault must be treated as credible under the Pocso Act, and those who receive such information are required to report it, while limiting prosecution only to those who were directly informed and were legally obliged to act.
The Supreme Court has held that information given by a minor victim about sexual assault will be treated as credible, and the person receiving it will be legally bound to report it to the authorities, including the police, under the Pocso Act.
A bench of Justices Manoj Misra and KV Viswanathan said the phrase "has knowledge that such an offence has been committed" is not confined to direct knowledge, but also covers awareness based on information received directly from the child victim.
The ruling came in a case linked to a school in Arunachal Pradesh, where an eight-year-old girl had reported sexual assault by a senior boy to her teachers, elder sister and classmates. Setting aside orders of the Gauhati High Court and the trial court, the top court said they had erred in discharging the teachers and headmistress from charges linked to failure to report the incident and related offences.
The bench said, "Therefore, for the purposes of this Act, when a child victim reports to a person that he or she has been subjected to an offence, or is likely to be subjected to an offence, punishable under the Act, it could safely be concluded that the person to whom such information is provided by the child victim has knowledge that such an offence has been committed or is likely to be committed."
It added that the word "knowledge" is not defined in the Pocso Act, other Codes or Acts, or even the General Clauses Act, 1897, and so it must be understood in a way that serves the purpose of the law.
The court also said there could be situations where a child reports an incident without fully understanding the nature of the act. "In such cases, and also where the information provided by the child is either not clear or confusing, a brief questioning of the child may be justified to derive a lucid picture of the nature of the information which the child wishes to convey. However, such questioning should not be with a view to rubbish the complaint made by the child, rather it must be to understand the true and correct nature of the complaint," it said.
The court further said the High Court and the trial court were wrong in holding that the absence of visible signs of sexual assault meant there was no reason to believe an offence had been committed.
At the same time, the bench clarified that not everyone in the institution could be prosecuted. "However, not all teachers or office bearers of the institution need to be prosecuted for the offence punishable under Section 21 of the Act. Only those who received information directly from the victim, of her being subjected to sexual assault, could be prosecuted for failure to report," it said.
It added that others who were not told directly by the child and before whom the offence was not committed could not be prosecuted merely because they were allegedly present when a verification was carried out. The court noted that the victim had told her elder sister, her friend, the head girl and a teacher about the incident, but said the sister, friend and head girl could not be prosecuted as they were minors.
Partly allowing the appeal filed by the victim's mother, the court said there was enough material in the police report to raise grave suspicion against the teacher for framing charges under Section 21 of the Pocso Act and Section 176 of the IPC, and she was therefore not entitled to be discharged.
In sum, the Supreme Court has said that a child victim's direct account of sexual assault must be treated as credible under the Pocso Act, and those who receive such information are required to report it, while limiting prosecution only to those who were directly informed and were legally obliged to act.
