Rajasthan HC Refuses Bail To Uncle Booked For Rape; Says Sexual Offence Involving Family Graver, Slight Contradictions In Minor's Testimony Not Fatal

Rajasthan High Court has ruled that certain contradictions in the statements of a minor victim, especially of sexual abuse, was likely due to traumatic nature of such incidents, and such minor inconsistencies in the victim's testimony were not sufficient to grant bail to the accused when the overall credibility of the allegations remained intact.

The bench of Justice Rajendra Prakash Soni also observed that the seriousness of sexual offences, particularly those involving familial relationship, makes the crime graver and warranted stricter consideration.

The Court was hearing a bail application in a case in which it was alleged by the father of the victim that her minor daughter was kidnapped and raped by her maternal uncle (“mausaji”).

It was argued by the counsel for the petitioner that the girl had left the house on her own volition, without informing any of her family members, which indicated her consent.

Furthermore, it was submitted that there were contradictions in her statement made to the police and during the trial making her testimony unreliable. The counsel argued that the entire narrative was just to falsely implicate the petitioner due to a family dispute.

Rejecting the argument presented by the counsel for the petitioner, the Court opined that,

“I am clearly of the view that in this case, husband of the victim's mother's sister (Mousaji) has raped the minor victim. Upon perusal, the contradictions in various statements of the victim are of a minor nature and do not carry significant weight.”

Furthermore, it was observed that due to traumatic nature of sexual abuses involving minors, minor contradictions were likely and not sufficient to grant bail to the accused.

The Court also highlighted that under POCSO, a presumption of guilt was created once victim's testimony was found reliable after which the burden shifted to the accused to prove his innocence in which the petitioner had failed.

“Given the vulnerable state of the victim and the fact that instant child sexual abuse case, involves an individual who have access to minor victim within the family, I am of the considered opinion that the petitioner is not entitled to be released on bail.”

Accordingly, the bail application was rejected.

Title: RL v. State of Rajasthan

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Raj) 310

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