Takes years for child to come out of trauma: Delhi High Court denies bail to POCSO accused tuition teacher

Trauma suffered by a young girl owing to sexual assault hinders growth and leads to mental health problems, the Delhi High Court observed while denying bail to a tuition teacher who allegedly molested his minor student [Anil Kumar v. State]..Justice Subramonium Prasad held the same in a bail plea filed by the tuition teacher, who was booked for sexually harassing and assaulting his 16-year-old pupil..“The prosecutrix is only a 16-year-old child. It has been observed by the Supreme Court that paramount consideration is to be given to the well being of a child whose mental psyche is vulnerable. It is well known that trauma suffered by a young girl child of 16 years of age is long lasting and it take years for a child to come out of that trauma. The trauma hinders the growth of the child and also leads to various psychological problems,” the order stated..The man was alleged to have sexually assaulted the child when she was about to leave home after the class. The survivor felt “extremely uncomfortable and uneasy” after she had been subjected to the assault.A first information report (FIR) was lodged against the petitioner under Sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment) of the India Penal Code read with Section 8 (sexual assault) of the POCSO Act.Following the complaint, the man was arrested on August 30, 2021, while the girl underwent counselling. The man’s bail plea was rejected by a sessions court on October 4, 2021..Before the High Court, Senior Counsel appearing for the petitioner argued that the allegations were not sufficient to constitute the offence of sexual assault. According to the lawyer, even it was assumed there was sufficient material to proceed against the petitioner for an offence under Section 8 of the POCSO Act, the maximum punishment was only 5 years..He also contended that the petitioner had been in custody since August 30, 2021, and that a chargesheet had been filed indicating that there was no chance for his client to tamper with the evidence. Further, he claimed that after the incident, the prosecutrix first went to a rival coaching centre. He said that had the prosecutrix been mentally traumatised, she would not have gone to the rival coaching centre and would have instead headed straight home..The public prosecutor contested the petitioner's case, and submitted that the survivor had been subjected to aggravated sexual assault, for which the punishment prescribed under Section 10 of the POCSO Act was a minimum of 5 years..The High Court underlined that the POCSO Act was enacted to protect children from offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography..“This Act was introduced because child victims were not getting adequate protection because the provisions in the IPC were not sufficient to safeguard the interests of the child victims,” it noted..In its view, the law was brought out to operate in the best interests and well-being of a child and to ensure healthy physical, emotional, intellectual and societal development of the child..On the submission that the girl went first to a rival coaching centre after the incident, the Court held,"The fact that the petitioner went to a rival tutor's office immediately after the offence cannot be taken as relevant criterion here and it cannot be said that she has been asked to file the instant complaint. It can be said that the prosecutrix was so disturbed by the action of the petitioner that she went to the rival tutor to secure admission there."It thus held,"Granting bail to the petitioner at this stage i.e. even before the charges are framed, will lead to defeating the very purpose and the object of the POCSO Act. This Court is, therefore, not inclined to grant bail to the petitioner at this stage.".Senior Advocate Mohit Mathur along with Advocates Vijay S Bishnoi, Harsh Gautam represented the petitioner. Additional Public Prosecutor Sanjeev Sabharwal appeared for the State..[Read order]