Mumbai Crime: In a first, POCSO accused gets bail even before charge sheet filed

A 45yearold Vakola resident has been granted bail by the sessions court in a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences POCSO case even before the charge sheet has been submitted The plaintiff and the accused have a history of animosity according to the court The child who is three years old has a rape complaint against the accused that her mother has filed under POCSOAs per the bail application filed by the accused the mother lodged a complaint on January 28 this year She said that her daughter used to go to the house of the accused who lives in the neighbourhood to play with his sons On January 6 at around 130 pm the child allegedly came from the house of the accused and complained of pain in her private parts and stomach The mother took the girl to the hospital where doctors diagnosed an infectionScared of accusedThe child did not speak of sexual assault to her at the time but as per the FIR on January 26 when the complainant took the child for a pooja along with her husband the child got scared on seeing the accused and insisted that her mother take her back home ldquoOn enquiry the victim stated that she is scared of the accused as he removed her underwear touched her private parts inserted his finger and fondled her The child further stated that the accused has committed the act on two occasions The complainant went to confront the accused and he threatened to kidnap the victim Hence the complaint was filedrdquo the court order readsAlso Read Mumbai Crime Cyber crooks nabbed at Deoghar and HazaribaghlsquoAccused was in officersquoAdvocate Ajay Lad who appeared for the accused argued that his client who works with a leading oil company as a technician was falsely framed in the case as he was in the office when the said incident as alleged to have happened by the girl ldquoThere is a delay of two days in filing the FIR even after the girl revealed the incident to the complainantrdquo Lad argued before the courtHe further argued that there is a common water pipeline with two separate taps and the connection is registered in the name of the complainantrsquos fatherinlaw However it is mostly the accused who pays the bills and there are frequent quarrels over it The complainant wants to defame the accused therefore on January 30 a news report was published by the complainant in a local newspaperProsecution objects to bailThe prosecution objected to the bail application of the accused only on grounds that he is a neighbour and if bail is granted he may threaten and influence the witnesses in the case The court heard both sides and accepted the bail application of the accused The court while granting bail observed ldquoThe accused has relied on the attendance report of the company according to which on January 6 he was working from 816 am till 741 pm He has also relied on the certificate issued by the company and police from time to time submitted at his officerdquoldquoThe counsel for the accused has submitted that the victim reported the pain and was taken to the hospital on January 6 itself But she has not disclosed the incident to her mother or doctor examining her and this creates doubt in the case of prosecution He also contended that even if it is believed that the victim disclosed the incident on January 26 to the complainant then why was the complaint filed on January 28 ie after two daysrdquo the court observed furtherldquoThe complainant contends that the victim got scared on seeing the accused at the time of the pooja However he is the neighbour of the victim and it is not possible that she had not seen the accused for 20 daysrdquo the court order readsCourt notes reasonsThe court has also noted that there is animosity between the accused and the complainant over a common water pipe connection While granting bail the court imposed stringent conditions on the accused that he should not tamper with evidence or influence witnesses and shall not leave the jurisdiction of the court without permissionldquoThe POCSO law is the most misused obviously because of the sensitivity of such cases Particularly in this case the complaint is concocted and filed due to animosity Thus it creates doubt about the veracity of the allegations levelled against my clientrdquo Lad told midday3Age of the child