K'taka HC denies plea to quash case against man accused of assaulting mentally challenged minor
Bengaluru: The High Court of Karnataka has refused to quash criminal proceedings against a man from Tumakuru accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old mentally challenged girl. Justice M Nagaprasanna observed that dismissing the proceedings would amount to a "travesty of law," given the nature of the allegations.
The incident occurred on December 10, 2023, when the petitioner allegedly lured the victim to his house under the pretext of giving her sugarcane. Although her mother became aware of the incident on the same day, she delayed filing a complaint by 11 days due to social pressures and her daughter's disability. The child later complained of persistent pain, prompting the complaint.
The Tumakuru police charged the petitioner under s. 376(l) of the IPC and s. 4 of the POCSO Act.
The petitioner argued that the delay in registering the complaint and the victim's mental condition warranted quashing the case. He also claimed that the victim's statement under s. 164 of the CrPC lacked credibility. However, Justice Nagaprasanna noted that the victim had identified the petitioner and provided sufficient details about the incident in her statement.
The court held that the allegations were "heinous and horrendous," describing the petitioner's behaviour as prima facie paraphilic. It emphasised that reliance on isolated statements from a mentally challenged child during cross-examination cannot justify quashing the proceedings.
The trial court has been instructed to conclude the case within three months.
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10-year-old boy stuck in borewell in MP's Guna, rescue operation on
Bhopal, Dec 28: A 10-year-old boy fell into an open borewell in Madhya Pradesh's Guna district on Saturday evening and a rescue operation was underway, officials said.
The incident took place in Raghogarh area.
Sumit Meena, the boy, slipped into the open shaft of the borewell at Pipliya village, about 50 km from Guna district headquarters, about 5 pm.
He was trapped at a depth of around 39 feet, Raghogarh Congress MLA Jaivardhan Singh told PTI from the spot.
A parallel pit has been dug to rescue him, he said.
While police started the rescue operation immediately, a team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) had also arrived from Bhopal, the MLA said.
Oxygen was being pumped into the borewell, he said.
