HYDERABAD: A POCSO court in Neredmet recently acquitted a 60-year-old man accused of sexually assaulting a nine-year-old girl, citing the victim’s death before trial, the hearsay nature of key witness testimony and the absence of medical evidence to support the allegations.
The case was registered in 2017 after the child disclosed the alleged abuse to her school teacher during a classroom session on “good touch” and “bad touch”. The victim died in 2022 due to illness before she could testify. The court delivered its verdict in 2026.
According to the prosecution, the girl’s mother lodged a complaint with Kushaiguda police after the teacher informed her of the child’s disclosure. The girl, who was said to have had an intellectual disability, studied at a residential school and visited home occasionally.
The teacher told the court that the child had alleged that an elderly man living opposite her house had called her inside, locked the door, removed both their clothes and sexually assaulted her. The girl also reportedly said the man had assaulted her on two or three earlier occasions and had threatened her against informing her mother.
Based on the complaint, police registered a case under Section 376 of the IPC, Sections 4 and 8 of the POCSO Act and Section 3(2)(v) of the SC/ST (PoA) Act.
During the investigation, doctors at Gandhi Hospital found no evidence that the accused, Duggani Siddaiah, was impotent. Medical and forensic examinations of the child also found no signs of sexual assault or penetration.
The court held that, without the victim’s testimony, the evidence of her mother and teacher was hearsay. It also found that the medical and forensic evidence did not support the allegations.
Legal observers noted that while POCSO convictions can rest solely on a victim’s testimony, the victim’s death before her deposition meant the court never heard her account.