Picture for representational purpose only.

NEW DELHI: “Where is the law to protect men from women and children who implicate them in false cases” a Delhi court asked while acquitting a senior citizen accused of raping his minor granddaughter in October 2015.

The special Protection of Children against Sexual Offences (POCSO) court said the girl had given different statements at different times and they were all riddled with inconsistencies. “The complainant’s numerous contradictions and inconsistencies as well as with that of her mother’s statements remain unexplained,” additional sessions judge Nivendita Anil Sharma said.

The court observed that the plight of the 62-year-old grandfather might continue despite the acquittal as it would have caused “uproar in the society since he was the maternal grandfather of the minor”. “His acquittal may not even be noticed. He will continue to suffer the stigma of being a rape-case accused. He has also remained in custody for a considerable period,” said the court.

The nine-year-old complainant alleged that the man committed digital rape on multiple occasions. He was accordingly chargesheeted, but claimed innocence.

In his statement in court, the man accused the girl’s mother of falsely implicating him as she wanted to usurp his property. In his defense, he said he had allowed his daughter to live in his house on humanitarian grounds, but she tutored her minor daughter, and filed a false case against him. He also alleged that the police forcibly obtained his signatures on blank papers. This case, according to him, was filed only because his younger daughter wanted to grab his property.

The court, however, found that the girl did not depose that her grandfather sexually abused her, in fact, gave an account of some previous alleged incidents which were neither reported nor mentioned in the complaint.

“There are numerous inconsistencies in the girl’s statements, especially regarding the manner in which the alleged offence was committed. It also cannot be ignored that the she as well as her mother have admitted in their cross examination that there was a dispute between the accused and the girl’s parents over the property, which indicates the possibility of false implication of the accused,” the court observed.

A seemingly ‘untrue’ version of the girl’s statements prompted the court to observe that no reason had been shown as to why the man would jeopardise his future, and there is nothing on the record to show that he had committed the offence. “No one discusses about the dignity and honour of a man as everyone is only fighting for the rights, honour and dignity of women and children... Perhaps, now it is the time to take a stand for a man,” it added.

