Delhi HC: child's testimony on sexual assault can sustain conviction without independent corroboration

The Delhi High Court dismissed an appeal against the conviction of a man for the aggravated penetrative sexual assault of his three-year-old daughter under Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, upholding a sentence of twenty years' rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000. The child had told her mother that the appellant had put his finger into her private part; a case was registered roughly seven months later after she was taken for a medical examination. The appellant argued that the child had been tutored by her mother to falsely implicate him so the mother could pursue a relationship with another man, and that the delay in lodging the FIR and absence of medical corroboration cast doubt on the prosecution's case.

Justice Madhu Jain held that a child witness's testimony, once the trial court is satisfied she can understand questions and give rational answers, can sustain a conviction without independent corroboration if it inspires confidence, citing Dattu Ramrao Sakhare v. State of Maharashtra and State of Punjab v. Gurmit Singh. The child had remained consistent on the core allegation and the identity of the accused, the tutoring theory was unsubstantiated, and the explained delay in reporting did not weaken the case. The trial court's invocation of the statutory presumption of guilt under Section 29 of the POCSO Act, which the appellant failed to rebut, was also upheld.