Believing kid, HC revokes rape order

NEW DELHI: Believing the testimony of a two-and-a-half-year-old girl who was brutally raped, the Delhi high court has reversed a trial court's decision to acquit the rapist.
A division bench of Justices Pradeep Nandrajog and Mukta Gupta on Monday also slammed the trial court for ignoring the child's testimony even though she testified and answered most questions truthfully.
Ruling in favour of Delhi Police, which had appealed against the trial court's verdict, HC has now summoned the rapist to appear before it on October 28 so that it can hand him prison term.
The court also directed Delhi's health secretary to immediately provide medical treatment to the girl who, though raped in 2012, still needs to be operated upon as she hasn't fully healed yet.
"The evidence of a child witness cannot be rejected per se, but the court as a rule of prudence is required to consider such evidence with close scrutiny and if it is convinced about the quality thereto and the reliability of the child witness it can record conviction based on the testimony. If after scrutiny the court comes to the conclusion that there is impress of truth in it then there is no reason for the court not to accept the evidence," the bench noted while blaming the trial judge.
The trial judge had questioned why the child went with a stranger into a nearby forest instead of appreciating value of her evidence. According to police, the child lives with her mother in a slum in Naraina. On October 06, 2012, when the mother left to a nearby market to buy vegetables and the husband was away, the girl and her younger brother went on the street to play.
When the mother returned, from the market she found her daughter missing and son weeping nearby. Later at night the child was found covered with mud and severely wounded.
The girl was hospitalized for ten days but couldn't make a statement before a magistrate out of fear. The lawyers told HC that ever since the offence she has been operated upon twice and needs to undergo one more operation as the injuries sustained by her in the incident have still not fully healed