Madras High Court says victim’s testimony enough to convict culprit

“In a case of this nature, we cannot expect any eye witness or independent witnesses. The culprit will make use of the fact that the child is alone and commit the heinous offence. It is a settled proposition of law that when the evidence of the prosecutrix is cogent, consistent and trustworthy and inspires confidence of the court, a conviction can be recorded solely based on the evidence of the victim unless there is a reason to discard or disbelieve the evidence of the sole witness,” Justice P Velmurugan observed.

The judge made this observation while dismissing an appeal by Ruban, a convict, challenging a special court’s order dated April 23, 2021, sentencing him to seven years of RI under the Pocso Act for sexually assaulting a minor in 2019.

After recording the submissions by the victim, the sessions judge, special court for the exclusive trial of cases under Pocso Act, Coimbatore, ordered Rs 2 lakh compensation to the victim.

The High Court also upheld the trial court’s judgment saying that the testimony of the victim is consistent and inspired confidence. “In the present case, there is no eye witness except the victim child, who was 11 at the time of the incident and she clearly spoke about it in a consistent and trustworthy manner, hence this court does not find any reason to discard the evidence of the child,” Justice Velmurugan said.