Allahabad HC acquits doctor jailed in POCSO case involving daughter

The Allahabad High Court has acquitted a doctor who was facing life imprisonment in a POCSO case involving his minor daughter. The court cautioned that evidence from a child witness should be considered with great caution in such cases, as children may testify against their own parents due to psychological factors. The doctor was initially jailed for over a year in 2019 after an FIR was filed by his wife, also a doctor, in June 2018.

The case originated from a dispute between the couple about building a hospital in Varanasi or Uttarakhand. Despite the woman's delay in filing the FIR, the court found that her actions were not motivated by a desire to protect her family's reputation, but rather to indict her husband with severe offenses. The court also noted that the child victim had been influenced by her mother to testify against her father, as evidenced by her using the father's name during her statement.

The court further emphasized that there was a positive relationship between the child and her father, as indicated by photographs of them together. Consequently, the High Court acquitted the doctor and his brother of all charges.