Victims' false depiction as minor under POCSO abuse of process of court: HC

The Allahabad High Court has directed that in cases of sexual offences against children, police must ensure that a medical report determining the victim's age is drawn up at the outset and is submitted to the court without any delay. The court said discrepancies in the victim's age in POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) cases can substantially affect the rights and liberties of the accused. It granted bail to Ghaziabad-resident Aman, alias Vansh, who was lodged in the jail since December 5, 2023 last year in a POCSO case. "False depiction of a victim as a minor in POCSO Act cases is an abuse of the process of court." Justice Ajay Bhanot said on Tuesday. He observed that the victim's age as mentioned in the prosecution case is often found to be at variance with the age determined by the expert medical boards in a large number of cases. "At times there are multiple contradictions in age-related documents available with the prosecution. Numerous cases of false implica