Youth’s detention with criminals is incarceration: POCSOA court

A special Protection of Children against Sexual Offence (POCSOA) court recently granted bail to a 22-year-old man, who was jailed since the past year under the charges of sodomy without any proof of the same.

The court, while passing orders, held that there is no strong evidence against the accused and considering the age of the accused, his further detention with hardcore criminals would amount to incarceration.

The court in its orders held, “Accused is languishing behind bars since August 13, 2017. The conclusion of the trial would take its own course of time. The record reveals that there are no criminal antecedents to the discredit of accused. He is a permanent resident of Mumbai. It is well settled that bail is rule and rejection is an exception. Considering the age of accused just of 21 years, his further detention with hardcore criminals would amount to incarceration.”

The court also held that after pursuing the charge­ sheet, it appears that the medical examination does not support the prosecution’s case. For the purpose of an offense under section 377 of IPC,(sodomy), there has to be strict medical proof which would prima­ facie corroborate the nature of allegations. There is a possibility that the present FIR is after­ thought as the Non-Cognizable Offence (NC) at the first instance does not disclose any cognizable offense.

According to the prosecution, the victim on October 8, 2016, had gone out when the accused caught hold of the victim and allegedly sexually assaulted him . he also threatened him with dire consequences and also assaulted him with a knife.