Pune: Lt Col’s Appeal Rejected, Bombay HC Confirms Five-Year Sentence in Child Abuse Case

Pune, 19th February 2025: The Bombay High Court has upheld the five-year jail sentence of a dismissed Lieutenant Colonel convicted under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for sexually assaulting and harassing an 11-year-old girl.

A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale ruled in favor of the minor’s testimony, stating, “The statement of the child is credible and trustworthy. A young girl’s instinct in recognizing inappropriate touch must be given due consideration.”

The ruling came in response to an appeal by the former Army officer against a January 2024 verdict by the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) in Mumbai, which upheld the General Court Martial’s (GCM) decision in March 2021. Along with the prison term, the officer was ordered to be cashiered from service.

According to case records, the incident took place on February 1, 2020, just a day after the officer’s posting in Pune. He had requested a havildar to bring his two children—a boy and a girl—under the pretext of showing them palmistry. During the interaction, he asked the havildar to fetch a pen. When the father left the room, followed by his son, the havildar returned moments later to find his daughter in tears.

In his defence, the dismissed officer claimed he had no malicious intent and that he had merely “requested a kiss from the child as a gesture of fatherly or grandfatherly affection.” However, the court rejected this argument.

The Bombay HC concurred with the government’s legal representative that a medical examination was unnecessary since there was no evidence of physical injury. The court noted, “Although an assessment of the child’s mental state and trauma could have been conducted, its absence does not weaken the findings of the General Court Martial.”

Highlighting the significance of the victim’s statement, the court remarked, “The most crucial piece of evidence—the minor’s testimony—provides a clear and consistent account of the incident.” It further stated that there was “no justification for the officer to hold the girl’s hand, touch her inappropriately, or ask for a kiss.”

With this ruling, the Bombay High Court has reinforced the importance of a survivor’s testimony in cases of child abuse and upheld the stringent legal provisions under the POCSO Act.