.
CHANDIGARH: A “victim’s absolutely normal mental state” after an alleged Pocso case offence raises serious doubts about the credibility of allegations, Punjab and Haryana High Court said in a recent order while suspending the five-year sentence of a teacher convicted of molesting a student. HC noted the Class VIII student attended a PTM with her parents the day after the alleged offence, took photographs at school, and posted them on Instagram with the caption “School Mein Maje”. “Such behaviour cannot reasonably be anticipated from a minor who was subjected to sexual molestation by her teacher at school merely a day prior,” Justice Namit Kumar said in the order, passed on a petition by the teacher. On Nov 8, 2024, a fast-track special court in Chandigarh convicted the teacher in a Pocso case registered on Nov 2, 2022, awarding the maximum sentence of five years. His appeal against conviction was admitted by High Court in Nov last year. The prosecution alleged the teacher called the student, engaged in obscene talk and touched her inappropriately on Nov 2, 2022. Out of fear, she left school but narrated the offence to her father after arriving home. The teacher, on the other hand, claimed the girl harboured a grudge against him as he had caught her in a “compromising position” with a boy and reprimanded her around a month earlier. “The teacher had only called the girl to the staff room to question her over the use of a mobile phone during school hours, instructing her to bring her parents and the phone the next day for the PTM,” his counsel said. The bench observed the mental state of the survivor remained “absolutely normal” even after the alleged offence, casting serious doubt on the veracity of her allegations and indicating the offence did not take place. HC said any child who experienced such an incident must have been mentally traumatised for a while. “The conduct and demeanour of the prosecutrix subsequent to the alleged incident does not inspire confidence in the prosecution version, and the behaviour of the prosecutrix exhibits no sign of fear, trauma, and emotional distress that would ordinarily be expected from a victim of such a grave offence,” High Court said. The sentence shall remain suspended till the appeal against conviction is decided.