A Dindoshi special court designated for sexual crimes on children last week observed in its judgment that the sole uncorroborated testimony of the victims if reliable then it can be relied on. Special Judge HC Shende under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act found the 35-year-old man guilty of sections of the Indian Penal Code pertaining to outraging modesty, stalking and criminal intimidation. The defence advocate had alleged that a tuition teacher to whom the minor had complained about the man's behaviour, had not been examined by the prosecution and hence the testimony of the victim was not corroborated. Judge Shende relied on a landmark Supreme Court judgment which said that seeking corroboration of the victim's statement where her testimony inspires confidence, amounts to adding insult to injury. This apex court judgment had also stated that the evidence of a victim of a sexual offence is entitled to great weight notwithstanding the absence of corroboration. As per the police complaint filed on March 2016 by the mother of the 16-year-old girl, the man Salim Sattar had been eve-teasing both her and her daughter since 2014 with sexually-coloured remarks. The trigger for finally lodging the complaint was when the mother and daughter were out on a stroll in the neighbourhood and Sattar winked at the young girl. When the mother confronted him, he caught her daughter's hand and while verbally abusing them both, told them that they couldn't do anything to him. The father of the girl, who was nearby at that point, rescued his daughter from the hold of the man. The court, however, said the prosecution was not able to prove that the girl was a minor at the time of the incident. It thus acquitted the man of the charges under the Pocso Act and sentenced him to one-year in jail.

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