SC reserves order whether rapist of mentally-challenged woman be tried under POCSO

The Supreme Court has reserved its verdict on a petition asking whether a man accused of sexually assaulting a woman having an IQ of a minor can be tried under the stringent POCSO law. 

The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act is applicable in cases where victims are minors and accused do not get away with lighter jail terms as the minimum sentence is life imprisonment. 

A bench comprising justices Dipak Misra and RF Nariman said on Thursday that it will pronounce an order on the petition filed against a Delhi high court order refusing the submissions that the alleged rapist of the 38-year-old woman, suffering from cerebral palsy, be tried under the POCSO Act. 

The woman's mother, a reputed medical practitioner, alleged that her daughter had a mental age of 8 at the time of commission of the offence and it came down to three-four years after she suffered the trauma of rape. 

It had also sought a direction that her plea be transfered to the special court dealing?with matters under the POCSO Act as the case required specialised deposition of mentally-challenged person in the absence of the accused. 

The incident had taken place in a posh south Delhi locality and the accused comes from an influential background. 

Due to delay in recording of the statement of the victim in the trial court, the mother had moved the high court for transferring the case to the designated POCSO court so that her testimony could be recorded in the presence of neuro specialists and psychologists of a reputed hospital. 

The high court only permitted videography of the recording of the statement and refused to transfer the case to the special POCSO court, leading to the?filing of the appeal in the apex court.