Calcutta High Court acquits man in POCSO case involving minor daughter

MP, July 11, 2026, Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court has acquitted a man convicted of repeatedly raping his minor daughter, holding that while medical evidence proved the girl had been pregnant and had engaged in prior sexual intercourse, the prosecution failed to establish beyond reasonable doubt that the accused was responsible for the pregnancy.

Setting aside the trial court’s conviction under the POCSO Act, a Division Bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha and Justice Smita Das De observed that criminal courts cannot convict on suspicion alone and that every allegation must be supported by reliable and convincing evidence.

The case stemmed from an FIR lodged in October 2018 after the girl was admitted to hospital with severe abdominal pain.

Doctors found she had an ectopic pregnancy that required immediate surgery.

According to the prosecution, the victim later alleged that her father had repeatedly sexually assaulted her over several months and threatened to kill her and her mother if she disclosed the incidents.

After examining the evidence, however, the court found several circumstances that created reasonable doubt.

It noted that the victim did not disclose the alleged assaults to her mother, sister, relatives or doctors during the entire period of the alleged abuse, and the accusation surfaced only after the pregnancy was detected and terminated.

The Bench clarified that delayed disclosure in sexual offence cases is not, by itself, fatal to the prosecution.

However, it said courts must examine whether the explanation for such silence appears credible in the facts of each case.

The court also found that the mother’s deposition omitted important facts relating to the victim’s hospitalisation and abortion before the FIR was lodged, while the evidence of other witnesses was largely based on what they had been told rather than what they had personally seen.

While medical reports confirmed pregnancy and signs of prior sexual intercourse, the Bench held that they could not identify the perpetrator.

It also noted the absence of DNA or other scientific evidence linking the accused to the pregnancy.

Holding that the prosecution had failed to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt, the High Court set aside the conviction and sentence, and directed the man’s immediate release if he was not required in connection with any other case.