- Every once in a while, we come face to face with the realisation that revenge really does not know any boundaries, and that people can really go to any lengths to seek it. Something like this has happened in the case of The State of Maharashtra vs. Abdulrehman Shahjadhussain Shaikh and anr where the victim girl’s father and uncle were acquitted after being in jail for three years, when the Court came to the conclusion that the whole case was a fabrication and was lodged because the father had divorced the mother.
- The Court also observed that the 14 year old minor was completely under the influence of her mother.
- The mother had told the Court in her cross examination that her husband had divorced her by pronouncing triple talaq the day that the complaint was lodged. She had three children with the accused father who worked as an auto-rickshaw driver.
- In November of 2018, the mother had lodged an FIR at the Shambhu Nagar police station and alleged that her husband and his brother (minor’s uncle) had been raping her daughter in her absence for the past three to four months.
- The Special Judge (POCSO) observed that in the instant case, the oral evidence of the minor victim is not reliable, and that she was heavily influenced by her mother, who had separated from her husband and her mother-in-law. The Hon’ble Judge also observed that it is a well settled position of law that a child witness can be tutored. After going through the depositions and examinations of the parties, the Court came to the conclusion that there is a grudge on behalf of the wife against her husband and her brother-in-law.
- The Court also observed that the evidence on record made it perfectly clear that the husband and the wife frequently quarrelled and that their relations were strained. However, when the minor was asked about the relations between her parents, she clearly denied the quarrels that frequently happened between the two. This showed that the victim was not being truthful.
- It is important to note that in the case of Dattu Ramrao Sakhre vs State of Maharashtra the Apex Court had observed that conviction can be based on the sole evidence of the child witness if the witness is found competent and her testimony is found trustworthy. This was clearly not the case here.
- The Court also remarked that the victim’s deposition contradicts that of the mother on material aspects of the case.
- The final nail in the coffin was that the medical report of the victim did not support the case of the prosecution. The report clearly stated that the hymen was intact. To this, the Court noted that penetrative sexual intercourse by two men at different times will not give a report of the hymen being intact.
- With this, the Mumbai Sessions Court acquitted both the accused of all the charges that were levelled against them and ordered them to be released forthwith.
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