Tripura High Court: S.G. Chattopadhyay J., rejected a bail application which was filed in the matter of an FIR registered under Sections 377 and 506 of the Penal Code, 1860 and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO hereunder) for committing sexual assault on the son of the informant.
The mother of the victim lodged the written ejahar alleging that the accused who was a private tutor of her son, a boy aged 9 years, used to give private tuition to her son regularly in the house of the accused of the last 3 months. When the informant found her son reluctant to go to his said private tutor and she also noticed that her son was not feeling well she asked him as to what happened to him. In reply, he told his mother that he was feeling pain in his rectum because his private tutor inserted his genital organ into his rectum at the time of his taking tuition from him. Knowing this, mother of the victim had immediately taken her son to the hospital where injuries were found in his rectum.
Apprehending arrest, the accused had approached this court for pre-arrest bail.
The Court after perusing all the records observed that the victim became very upset after the occurrence and after the medical tests when they came to know about the occurrence the accused private tutor also left his home. The Court further observed that same statement had been given by her husband and one of the neighbours who came to know about the occurrence from the parents of the victim. The 9 years old victim had also unfolded the entire incidence before the Judicial Magistrate who recorded his statement under Section 164(5) CrPC. About the medical evidence it was found that the IO had already approached the medical officer to record his findings in the medical report and such report was awaited.
The Court while rejecting the bail application found that materials available on record had made out a strong prima facie case against the accused petitioner and in view of the above, this court was of the view that this was not a fit case in which the accused may be given the benefit of custodial immunity by granting pre-arrest bail.[Indrajit Ghosh v. State of Tripura, 2021 SCC OnLine Tri 112, decided on 26-02-2021]
Suchita Shukla, Editorial Assistant ahs put this story together.
