CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has observed that when a mother falters on the sacred responsibility of ensuring safety of her children, “it strikes at the very foundation of the family and society”.
The observation was made while dismissing an appeal filed by a woman and her live-in partner, who were sentenced to life imprisonment by a Coimbatore court in a case registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. The woman was punished for abetment and failure to report the offence, while her live-in partner was punished for perpetrating penetrative sexual assault on her minor child repeatedly.
A division bench of justices P Velmurugan and M Jothiraman, in a recent order, said, “A mother’s paramount duty is to ensure the safety, emotional wellbeing, and moral upbringing of her children. When such a sacred responsibility is let down, it strikes at the very foundation of the family and society.”
Both the mother and her paramour are from Coimbatore.
According to the prosecution, the live-in partner perpetrated the offence of penetrative sexual assault on June 20, 2017, when the child was living with her mother. He had threatened the victim of dire consequences if she revealed about it. When the victim told the mother about the offence and agony, she said such things were happening everywhere and it should not be revealed to anyone. When he continued to sexually assault her, the victim left for her father’s house and informed him. Subsequently, a police complaint was lodged.
The Mahila Court in Coimbatore on November 23, 2020, sentenced the paramour to life imprisonment for committing aggravated penetrative sexual assault under section 5 (1) r/w 6 of the Pocso Act, while the mother was sentenced to life imprisonment for abetment and failing to report the incident respectively under section 17 of the Pocso Act and six months under section 21 (1) of the Pocso Act.
The division bench concluded that the prosecution proved the charges against both the accused and said the statement of the victim child was consistent.