She works as Convenor, LJRF Centre for women and children, and Secretary LJRF Trivandrum Chapter.
The victims are always subject to the dominance of the will of others and the manipulations of society. Voices of the victims are heard but the louder voices determine the destiny of the victim.
In POCSO courts or in the Additional Fast Track courts created solely for the purpose of speedy disposal of justice in such offenses against children are witnessing the unbreakable lies from the victim and other prosecution witnesses.
The trial parts have become more dramatic which reminds the old opera shows. In the chief examination, the victim, himself or herself deposes that neither the statement regarding the occurrence of the crime has been given nor the accused is identified which palpably shows the tutored deposition. In addition to it, the other witnesses in the array repeat the same tutored statements.
Is money, power, or fear one is behind such dramas? Who knows? Even the court itself is unable to identify what causes them to do so and thus become forlorn. Hardly a few judges take time to ask “oo..child tells me the truth without looking anyone else”. Still, such courts with humanity fail to make them reveal the truth. The truth is that light can also be hidden if light has decided to make itself not to blow. The future of most of the POCSO cases presently under trial has become unpredictable since the way it goes is getting twisted at any point in time. The ways to tackle such a scenario are yet to be sorted out. But the hope is that gradual and stringent interference of the judiciary can make some worthy changes.
The Karnataka court’s recent verdict is one among those hopes. A single-judge bench of Justice M. Nagaprasanna said, “in terms of sub-section (2) of Section 33 of the POCSO Act, the Special Public Prosecutor or as the case would be, the counsel appearing for the accused shall while recording examination-in-chief, cross-examination or re-examination of the child communicates the questions to be put to the child to the Special Court which shall, in turn, put those questions to the child. Therefore, the victim is permitted to be cross-examined under the POCSO Act itself on her turning hostile which would also cover the situation under sub-section (2) of Section 33 of the POCSO Act.[i]
Thus, the prosecution can cross-examine the victim. But such cross-examination can be only in terms of Section 33 of the POCSO Act which says that cross-examination questions shall be put to the Court, and the Court, in turn, to put the same questions to the victim. The court has to apply a judicious mind carefully and with great caution while playing this part.
The debris remaining after the scars have been made up shall be collected to make a bold and hardened chain of causation to tie up the culprits. For the same, more and more active and effective efforts on the part of the State and government are necessary. Beyond everything, the openness and readiness of the victim to follow the truth shall not be curtailed by anyone.
[i] State Of Karnataka v. Somanna Case No:. CRIMINAL PETITION No.8167/2020
