POCSO: Supreme Court convicts accused but chooses not to sentence!
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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday decided not to sentence a convicted man to jail in a POCSO case after noting that the victim does not see what the convict committed as a crime. The court also noted that the victim suffered more due to the legal and social consequences that followed the crime, Live Law reported.
The convict, who sexually abused the victim when she was a minor, married her later when she reached the required age, and he is living with her and their child.
A bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan observed that the committee which studied and submitted the final report on the case informed that though the law views the convict’s act as a crime, the survivor doesn’t.
“The committee records that it was not the legal crime that caused any trauma to the victim, but rather it was the consequence that followed which took a toll on her. What she had to face as a consequence was the police, the legal system, and the constant battle to save the accused from punishment," the court observed.
The top court exercised its power under Article 142 of the Constitution (power to do complete justice) and decided not to impose any sentence.
The case landed before the Supreme Court after the high court acquitted the man in the case. The top convicted the man under Section 6 of the POCSO Act and Sections 376(3) and 376(2)(n) of the IPC but decided not to sentence him.
