'Country's Image Tarnished' : Patna High Court Raps State Police Over 'Lethargic' Approach In US Minor's Sexual Abuse Case

Justice Bibek Chaudhuri's bench expressed deep concerns over the State/Darbhanga police's failure to promptly register an FIR in the matter, conduct a thorough investigation, and submit a chargesheet with appropriate evidence as submitted by the minor's parents.

The court made these observations while allowing a criminal writ plea filed by the mother of the victim girl challenging an order of a POCSO Court wherein her application to accept Facebook messages sent by the accused either to the victim or her parents under Section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act, was rejected.

Noting that generally, a writ petition does not lie against an order passed by a court of law on the judicial side, the bench allowed her plea to protect the life and liberty of a minor girl and also to protect the impartiality of the Indian judicial system.

The Court directed the Special Judge, POCSO Act, Darbhanga, to allow the applicant to produce the computer devices before the court after fixing a specific date and informing the same to the petitioner well in advance.

The Court further directed that an expert be arranged with the help of the SHO to obtain a copy of the messages in court and send it for a scientific report.

The court further added that the report must be submitted within one month of the messages' departure and follow the procedure under Section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act.

The case pertains to a minor girl who was allegedly stalked and sexually abused by a young man in 2018.

Though her mother in 2018 attempted to file a complaint in the case at the jurisdictional Mahila Police Station, her complaint was not accepted. Later on, in September 2019, the Darbhanga Town Police Station though registered a case against the accused under Sections 354A, 354D, 504, and 506 IPC, but the POCSO Act was not invoked.

Delays and procedural lapses also marred the investigation, and the police submitted the charge sheet casually without collecting substantial evidence, which could corroborate the statement of the prosecutrix and the informant.

Agains the same, a protest petition was filed by the complainant, stating that the accused himself confessed in his Facebook messages that he had indulged in sexual intercourse with the prosecutrix, and relevant documents in this regard were given to the IO, but the same was not considered.

Even after the chargesheet was filed, the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Darbhanga did not take cognizance of the case, which prompted the complainant to move the HC. 

Though the HC directed the IO to take specific steps, including recovering the accused's mobile phone, analysing call detail records (CDR), and recording the victim's statement through video conferencing, the IO failed to comply with these directives.

In view of IO's lackadaisical approach, the victim's father applied along with a certificate under Section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act, placing the Facebook, WhatsApp, and text messages sent by the accused; the Special Judge, however, did not accept the same, on the ground that the original device had not been placed before the court. Thus, the mother of the victim moved the HC.

Noting that the messages sent by the accused through computer devices like mobile phones, laptops, etc., are important documents in order to come to a logical conclusion of the case, the singe judge allowed the plea. It directed the Special Judge, POCSO Act, Darbhanga, to enable the applicant to produce the computer devices before the court after fixing a specific date.

Case title - Angela Lee Hicks vs. The State of Bihar and others