Delhi HC:Child Witness cannot be Rejected Out rightly

Delhi High Court in the month of October ruled that the evidence of a child witness cannot be rejected outright while upholding a case in which life sentence awarded to a man for kidnapping and then raping a minor girl in 2009.

A bench of justices comprising Sanjiv Khanna and S P Garg gave the ruling dismissing Delhi resident Amrit Sharma appeal against his conviction and sentence of life imprisonment that was awarded by the trial court on 27 September 2010 on basis of the testimonies of the victim and her friend.

As per the judge, the law on the issue is that the evidence of a child witness cannot be rejected outright. It must be evaluated more carefully and with greater circumspection because a child is susceptible to be swayed by others and can be tutored.

The judge also asserted that Small children can make false identification not because they want to depose and state false facts but because they may not be guided and be fully aware and conscious of the adverse consequence and the effect of making false positive identification.

The bench accepted the statements of victim, a 4-year-old girl at the time of incident in April 2009, and also of her friend, who is also of same age group that the accused had offered them biscuit and Rs 10 to go with him.