NEW DELHI: Courts must be sensitive to the needs of a physically-challenged witness when they depose before it, the Delhi high court has said. It made the observations while awarding a five-year rigorous imprisonment term to a certain Chander Singh for molesting a deaf-and-mute minor girl.
"When a deaf-and-mute witness is under cross examination, the court is required to take due care of the fact that vocabulary of such a person is limited as he or she speaks through sign language and it may not be possible for that witness to answer every answer by sign language. This disability of a limited vocabulary of sign language does not affect either the competence or the credibility of such witness. The court is required to exercise control over the cross-examination keeping in view the ability of the witness to answer the questions," Justice Mukta Gupta noted in a recent order.
The HC also upheld the conviction of Chander Singh under POCSO Act by a trial court but modified the sentence to one punishable for sexual assault.
The court relied on drawings made by the victim in her testimony to the court in response to cross examination conducted in question-answer form. In reply to one of the questions posed by the accused, she drew and explained the distance where the incident took place. The court said, "It can safely be held that there was sufficient compliance of the right to cross-examination provided to an accused and the testimony of this witness is not required to be effaced."
The minor's mother also recorded her statement where she told court that on the day of incident around 7.00pm, her daughter had gone to throw garbage in the dustbin. She returned back in a perplexed and perturbed condition. When the family sought to find out what happened, she explained by sign language that near the dustbin a man had molested her pressed her mouth, her breast and the lower abdomen but she was able to free herself and escape.
Later she identified the accused to her family as Chander Singh. After investigation was completed and charge-sheet was filed, Chander Singh was charged for offence defined under Section 7 and punishable under Section 8 of POCSO Act, besides Section 354-A IPC.
Justice Gupta said the testimony of the minor girl through her sign language inspires confidence and is sufficient to prove the offence committed.
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