New Delhi: A Delhi court imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on a woman for filing a false case alleging sexual assault on her five-year-old daughter, news agency PTI reported. Hearing a case against the woman, Additional Sessions Judge Susheel Bala Dagar said she lodged a false complaint in a fit of rage and in a bid to save herself from daily quarrels.
"She has been found to have misused the provisions of the POCSO Act by filing this false case on a false complaint in order to settle the property dispute, thereby leading to humiliation and defamation of the accused persons. She also tried to misuse the criminal justice system," the court said in its November 17 order.
The court said the woman had filed a complaint accusing some persons of “sexually assaulting” her daughter. Based on her complaint, they were booked under Section 5 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the POCSO Act.
The court termed the woman’s action a "blatant abuse of the law" and said these kind of false complaints demeaned the very purpose of the POCSO Act.
“Courts have to take a vigilant stance against this growing menace and have to try to weed out the possibility of false allegations without threatening justice due to the victim or the alleged perpetrator. It has been observed that the misuse of even the most stringent legislation to meet one's personal motives, mostly negative, has been an evident problem in our legal system. POCSO Act too has turned out to be no exception,” the Court order said.
The court further said that instead of taking recourse of other remedies to settle her dispute, the women misused the POCSO Act. A fine of Rs 1 lakh was imposed under section 22 of the POCSO Act, PTI reported.
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