Allegation that three-year-old child was sexually abused by her father is false; HC quashes case filed by woman against her husband
KOCHI: The further proceedings of the Attingal Fast Track Court in a POCSO case registered by the Mangalapuram police against a three-year-old girl's father were quashed by the Kerala High Court after it found that the complaint filed by the child's mother against her husband was false. Justice PV Kunhiകrishnan also directed the police to register a case against the child's mother. The court issued the order on the petition filed by the child's father requesting that the case be quashed.
The High Court pointed out that the statement given by the child in the Magistrate's Court that she likes both her parents and likes her father more is strong evidence in the case. The court also quoted the Malayalam film song 'Sooryanai Thazhukiyurakkamunarthumen Achaneyaanenikkishtam..' penned by noted musician Kaithappram Damodaran Namboothiri in its order to explain the mental anguish suffered by the father over the false complaint. The court also observed that the wrong trend of using children as weapons to gain strength in marital disputes is increasing in society.
The incident related to the case took place in 2015. In her complaint, the woman alleged that the child started behaving abnormally after her father left home for work. She also alleged that she once saw him misbehaving with the child at home. When she questioned him about the matter and informed her parents, he left home saying that he would get divorced from her. Later, he filed a complaint with the police alleging that his wife and daughter had gone missing. The mother lodged the complaint against her husband when the police summoned her to the station.
In the order, Justice Kunhikrishnan said the names of such culprits should be disclosed to the public, "so that the man who was defamed because of their complaint could stand before his child and society with dignity. But considering the privacy of the child I refrain from doing so."