The Kerala High Court has held that merely because a 16-year-old sexual abuse survivor used to smoke would not be a ground to conclude that he is of a deviant character.
Justice C.S. Sudha made the observation recently while dismissing the appeals by two persons convicted in a case relating to the sexual abuse of a minor boy. “Youngsters are prone to commit mistakes/follies during their teens or young age for which they cannot be branded as deviant and wholly unreliable,” the court observed.
The convicted persons contended that the minor boy was of deviant character as he used to smoke and that his testimony was not reliable. The appeals were filed against a Manjeri Sessions Court’s awarding of rigorous imprisonment of three years each and a fine of ₹5,000 each to the accused persons.
