Kerala HC Grants Anticipatory Bail To Man Accused Of Committing Sexual Assault On His 6-Yr-Old Son [Read Order]

The Kerala High Court has granted anticipatory bail to a 38-year-old man, accused of touching his minor son inappropriately with sexual intent after it noted that the complaint had been filed in the case two years after the alleged incident when the relationship between the accused and her wife had become strained.

Justice R Narayana Pisharadi granted anticipatory bail to the accused, a resident of Thrissur, booked under Sections 7 read with 8, 9(l), 9(m) and 9(n) read with 10 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.

The man had moved court seeking anticipatory bail saying he is ready to cooperate with the investigation and that earlier he was living aboard but has now settled in Kerala.

The allegation against the petitioner is that in November 2015, he had touched his then 6-year-old son inappropriately with sexual intent.

The case was registered on the basis of a statement given to the police by the victim boy on November 19, 2017.

His wife, who is a teacher in a school, gave a complaint on November 17, 2017, to the coordinator of the Childline Authority in which she narrated the acts of sexual assault committed by the petitioner on their son.

The Childline Authority informed the matter to the police and the statement of the victim boy was recorded by the police in the presence of his mother and the case against the petitioner was registered.

The court noted that “the statement given to the police by the mother of the victim boy reveals that she was aware of the acts of sexual assault committed by the petitioner on her son in the year 2015 itself. Then she did not give complaint against the petitioner to any authority. It is to be noted that she is a teacher by profession. It was only on 19.11.2017 that she informed the matter to the Childline Authority. By that time, the relationship between her and the petitioner had become strained. She filed a complaint against the petitioner and his relatives and a case has been registered against them under Section 498A IPC. There are other cases filed by her against the petitioner in the Family Court.

“It is pertinent to note that the petitioner has filed an application in the Family Court for getting custody of the child. The filing of the complaint against the petitioner alleging sexual assault on the minor son, two years after the alleged incident, has to be considered in the backdrop of the aforesaid circumstances,” the court noted.

The court, therefore, held that the petitioner can be granted the benefit of pre-arrest bail.

The court, while releasing the petitioner on bail on a bond of Rs 50,000 with two sureties of like amount, asked him to appear before the investigating officer every Saturday for three months and not to leave Kerala.