HT Bureau
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GUWAHATI, July 28: A woman was convicted under section 22 of the POCSO Act for making her minor sister file a false case of rape against her own husband by the Special Judge POCSO Act, East Siang District, Tageng Padoh, on July 27.
The woman named Yabom Chiram was sentenced to imprisonment for a month’s period and levied a fine of Rs 20,000 for making and conspiring a false case against her own husband misusing the POCSO Act and also the authority of the law to act upon her false information.
The Special Judge pronouncing the judgment reiterated that, ‘The object of the law is very clear that the POCSO Act is not to be misused by any person.’ The learned defence counsel for Yabom Chiram submitted that the accused has suffered domestic violence at the hands of her husband and she lodged many complaints before the police but the police did not take cognizance as it was a family dispute compelling or leading the convict woman to take extreme measure of making a false complaint against the husband and prayed for leniency while sentencing.
The learned Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) for POCSO Act Sanjoy Taye on the other hand submitted that the object of section 22 of the POCSO Act is to prevent any kind of misuse of POCSO Act and any leniency in awarding sentence shall send a wrong message to society and it will open a floodgate of vexatious and false litigation against a targeted person and therefore no leniency should be granted. The co-accused i.e. the minor sister of the woman convict was not sentenced as she was a minor at the time of the conspiracy and as such no cognizance could be taken against her as any child is protected under law for any offence committed under the Act.
The Special Judge while pronouncing the judgment said that, ‘The convicted accused had alternate remedy to address the domestic violence committed by the accused but the same was not resorted to rather the authority of the law and the executing agency of the law has been misguided and misused by the accused to take cognizance of the of the offence against an innocent person which was not the object of legislating the POCSO Act. The provision of section 22 of the POCSO Act has been incorporated to act as a deterrent to any person intending to misuse the Act.
