Chhattisgarh high court overturns 2017 acquittal in Koriya POCSO case, awards life term; says survivor’s testimony needs no corroboration

RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh high court has set aside a 2017 trial court order that acquitted three individuals in a case involving the sexual assault of a nine-year-old girl at a mission school in Koriya district.

A division bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal allowed the state’s appeal on Tuesday and sentenced the 50-year-old primary accused to life imprisonment. The bench observed that a survivor of sexual assault is not an accomplice and her evidence does not require corroboration as a matter of law. The court noted that corroboration is a matter of prudence rather than a condition for conviction.

The judges stated that if a survivor’s testimony is credible, natural, consistent, and trustworthy, the court may act upon it without independent corroboration. The court further remarked that girls and women in the tradition-bound society of India are often reluctant to admit to incidents that may reflect on their chastity. The division bench found the primary accused guilty under Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on him. Two other staff members, aged 23 and 36, were convicted under Section 119 of the IPC for public servants concealing a design to commit an offence. The court sentenced them to seven years of rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 5,000 each. The incident occurred in September 2015 at a mission school hostel. The survivor, a Class 4 student, was assaulted after she entered the boys' washroom because the girls' facility was locked. The mother of the survivor filed a report at Podi police station after she was informed of her daughter’s ill health. Medical examinations confirmed multiple injuries. During the investigation, the survivor identified the primary accused in a test identification parade at Manendragarh sub-jail. The HC noted that the trial court in Baikunthpur erred in its 2017 judgment by acquitting the respondents. The bench stated that the testimony of a survivor carries significant weight in such cases. The bench clarified that corroboration is a rule of prudence, not law. Since the survivor's testimony was found to be consistent and supported by the initial medical report and Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) findings, the court held that the evidence was sufficient for conviction. The court directed all three convicts to surrender before the trial court within two weeks to serve their sentences. The bench also remarked that the school staff members, as public servants, had a statutory duty to prevent the crime but instead chose deliberate concealment.