Court acquits mom charged with trafficking daughter

Panaji: The high court of Bombay at Goa has acquitted a woman who had been charged with offering her minor daughter for prostitution. The verdict was returned after the prosecution failed to record the statement of the decoy customer.
The high court overturned the Goa children’s court order convicting the woman in 2017 under the Goa Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, and the Goa Children’s Act.
Instead of recording the statements of material witnesses, the prosecution had recorded the statements of officers, none of whom were present when the alleged deal involving the child was taking place, the court stated.
“The reason for not examining the victim could be justified as by that time she was already married and by calling her to depose would have created problems in her married life,” Justice Bharat P Deshpande said. “However, there is no justification for not examining ... (the decoy) who was the main person for the deal.”
The court added, “There is absolutely no other evidence produced on record to show first of all that, accused No.1 was dealing in any prostitution and that she was living on the income derived from prostitution.”
The court also noted that the children’s court had disregarded the girl’s birth certificate produced by the prosecution to show her actual date of birth.
The medical opinion had suggested that the girl may have been 15 years old, give or take two years. That meant she could have been up to 17 years old at the time and hence could not be considered a child under the Goa Children’s Act as far as rape is concerned.
“Consequently, the offence alleged against accused No.1/appellant herein for child abuse, sexual exploitation under the Goa Children’s Act including sexual abuse or sexual exploitation, falls flat,” the court held.
The complainant in the case was Arunendra Pandey who runs the NGO ARZ specifically focused on fighting human trafficking and exploitation.