Thane court acquits tennis coach of raping minor girl

A Thane court has acquitted a tennis coach accused of raping and impregnating a 14-year-old student, observing that the girl’s post-incident conduct and continued training with him without complaint rebutted the legal presumption of guilt against the accused.

The victim’s conduct after the alleged incident cast doubt on the reliability of her testimony, Special Judge (for POCSO Act cases) Premal S Vithalani said in the order passed on July 10.

He noted that her decision to continue training with the coach without lodging any complaint undermined the credibility of her testimony, making it unsafe to convict the accused solely on her statement.

The court cleared the 40-year-old accused, a Navi Mumbai resident, of all charges under the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, citing major inconsistencies and lack of corroborative evidence.

According to the prosecution, the Class 9 student alleged that the accused sexually assaulted her forcibly twice near a tennis court in a residential housing society in Thane in August and September 2023.

The matter came to light in October 2023 when she complained of abdominal pain, and medical scans revealed she was seven weeks pregnant, leading to a medical termination of the pregnancy. The court, however, pointed out that the prosecution failed to establish a solid foundation for its case. 

“It cannot be disputed that no presumption is absolute and every presumption is rebuttable. It cannot be countenanced that presumption under Section 29 of POCSO Act is absolute. It would come into operation only when prosecution is first able to establish facts that would form the foundation for presumption under Sec 29 of POCSO Act to operate,” it said.

The court noted that despite receiving sex education at her international school on how to report sexual harassment, the survivor continued interacting normally and training with the coach.

“Looking to the post-incident conduct of the victim, to my mind, her testimony is not trustworthy and credible. Hence, only on the basis of her testimony, it would be unsafe to hold the accused guilty,” the judge said.

The court also flagged that the police did not record statements of the girl’s friends who were allegedly training with her before the incidents.

It also noted that the forensic DNA profiling of the aborted fetus was inconclusive, and the housing society’s CCTV footage showed nothing objectionable beyond the coach and student entering and exiting at normal hours.

Emphasising that legal convictions cannot rest on the gravity of the accusations alone. 

“This court is conscious of the fact that there are serious allegations about committing penetrative sexual assault twice against the minor victim, however, only on the basis of seriousness of allegations, the accused cannot be convicted,” it added.