HYDERABAD: A brutal stepfather who raped her, a mother who abandoned her and a defence lawyer who challenged her suffering… none of this could break the spirit of an 11-year-old girl, made of steelier stuff than most children her age. On Nov 7, the girl’s testimony before a Pocso court played a crucial role in sending her stepfather to jail for 30 years, the longest sentence ever pronounced in a Telangana court till date.
The accused was convicted by the XII additional metropolitan sessions judge T Anitha of repeatedly raping the girl and even forcing her into unnatural sex.
Lawyers and police officers that TOI spoke to were impressed by her resolve as she fought a legal battle without wavering for two years. Especially since her mother, who initially caught the husband red-handed and took her daughter to the police, decided to force her into retracting the case. The girl not only put up a strong case against the convict, but simultaneously started excelling at academics in a private school where she is currently studying in class IV.
The girl was 9 when the assaults started in 2022. Despite the brutality, the mother not only went back to living with the accused (when he was out on bail), but also denied any knowledge of the case. But the minor stood her ground and told the court during a hearing that “Allah” would punish her if she lied.
It was this faith and her consistent accounts of the torture – even as she took the stand all by herself while her mother accompanied the accused all through the trial and even on the day of the judgement – that convinced the court to convict the man.
In spite of numerous challenges in her fight for justice, an 11-year-old rape survivor stood firm as she recounted the abuse she faced at the hands of her stepfather. All through the trial, the girl, who is currently under the care of Telangana police’s Bharosa care centre at Hyderabad, had to endure tough cross examination.
The convict, who had earlier worked as a cab driver, claimed that the survivor had falsely implicated him at the instance of her mother, so that he would marry her. The court, however, supported the survivor saying if that was the case, her mother could not have become hostile. “She (mother) is not supporting the case. So, there was no influence of her on the survivor,” observed the court.
Even if she gave a false testimony against the convict, given her tender age it would not have been difficult to extract the truth during her cross examination, but her testimony is unshaken, appears to be trustworthy and can be acted upon, ruled the court.
The convict also claimed that they stayed in one room in a densely populated area of Hyderabad and in the adjacent room another family resided. According to him, it was difficult to rape a girl in such a situation. But the court found that rape was committed in a secret manner and even if committed in a densely populated area, it would be in an isolated place in between four walls.
The convict claimed that the survivor through her mother filed a false case to get a share in the property, but the court found that there was no evidence to show that the case was false.
Police officials said after the FIR was registered and the girl was shifted to the Bharosa centre, it took more than three days for her to become coherent and narrate her ordeal. The mother, meanwhile, started making multiple attempts to seek the girl’s custody and take her home, even as she returned to stay with the convict. The attempts were foiled by the police, who stood by the girl. Attempts to persuade the survivor to withdraw her statements were also successfully foiled by the cops.
The victim’s identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault.
