Kerala High Court Refuses To Quash POCSO Case Against Woman For Failing To Report Sexual Assault On Minors In Cottages Provided By Her
Manju Elsa Isac
19 Sep 2024 8:55 AM GMT
The Kerala High Court has refused to quash the criminal proceedings under POCSO Act initiated against a woman in-charge of the cottages where allegedly two minors were subjected to rape.
The petitioner had approached the High Court to quash two final reports where she was said to have provided the rooms in the cottage to the accused, who is her friend, without even having satisfied the requirements to run such a cottage. She was alleged to have committed an offence under Section 21 r/w Section 19(1) of the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act for not reporting the offence.
The accused allegedly brought the 15 year old victims to the cottage run by the petitioner. He allegedly raped one of the victims inside the room. He allegedly subjected the other child to aggravated sexual assault. The petitioner is arraigned as the 2nd accused in these cases.
The petitioner had argued that she was not named by the victims in the FIR and the First Information Statement. She further submitted that the license to run the cottage was in the name of her husband. She argued that only her husband can be arraigned as the accused and not her.
Justice A. Badharudeen however noted that on the alleged day of occurrence of the said crime, the license in the name of her husband had expired. At that time, the cottage was running without a valid license. The Court said that the materials collected during the investigation would prima facie show that the cottage was run by the petitioner at that time.
Accordingly, the petition was dismissed.
Counsel for the Petitioner: Advocate Peeyus A. Kottam
Counsel for the Respondent: Senior Public Prosecutor Renjit George
Case No: Crl. M. C. No 8460 of 2022
Case Title: Sheela v State of Kerala and Another
Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Ker) 584
