Courts should be sensitive to cases of sexual offence involving minors: HC

NEW DELHI: The FIRs in sexual offence cases involving minors are not mere printed papers but their trauma writ large, and such a stressful and life-turning experience faced by a victim should not be dealt with mechanically by courts, the Delhi High Court has said.

It said courts must remain sensitive to the emotional and psychological state of such victims as they may struggle to provide precise details of the incident due to trauma.

The court’s observations came while setting aside a trial court order rejecting a minor victim’s plea for preservation of CCTV footage and call data record of the accused on the ground of discrepancy in her statements with respect to the date of the alleged incident.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said that the victim, who was allegedly gang- raped by her brother-in-law and his two friends, was experiencing mental trauma due to which she was unable to recollect the correct date of the alleged incident to police, and the trial court should have “exercised sensitivity and empathy” in such a case.

After improvement in her mental health, she clarified the confusion over the dates she was assaulted and filed an application for issuance of necessary directions to the investigating officer to collect the CCTV footage and CDR of the correct date, noted the court.

The court ordered preservation of the relevant CCTV footage and the CDR as the absence of such crucial evidence could result in her losing hope about getting

justice.