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There can be a verdict based on the only statement of the sexual assault victim if they are found to be reliable and trustworthy, the Supreme Court has repeated while upholding conviction in a POCSO case. The petitioner was sentenced for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl and was condemned to undertake three years of rigorous imprisonment. Before the Supreme Court, he opposed that the Trial Court made a severe error in sentencing the accused by relying on the sole testimony of the victim. It was stated that the mother of the victim did not support the case of the prosecution and did not support the testimony of the victim.
Examining the case records, the three-judge bench of Justice Ashok Bhushan, Justice M. R. Shah, and Justice R. Subhash Reddy stated that though the mother of the victim did not support the victim, she had fully supported the case of the prosecution.
She narrated the incident and was cross-examined. The court does not see any good reason not to rely upon the deposition of the victim. She was 15 years at the time of deposition and hence is a matured one who is reliable. As per the settled proposition, even there can be an opinion based on the only statement of the victim if she is found to be reliable and trustworthy.
The court referred to the verdict in Vijay alias Chinee v. State of Madhya Pradesh, (2010) 8 SCC 191 in which the court had examined whether in the case involving sexual harassment, molestation, etc., can there be a conviction on the sole evidence of the victim.
The court said that the sole testimony of the victim is unquestionably trustworthy and her evidence is authentic. The bench further stated that accusations against the suspect which are proved from the deposition cannot be permitted in a civilized society.
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