Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has quashed a case of sexual abuse of daughter filed by a man against his wife's third husband.
Hearing the case, a bench headed by Justice M Nagaprasanna raised concern over a current trend of malicious parent syndrome that has emerged in the fights over child's custody. The syndrome is often seen among divorced parents who target each other in getting the custody of the child or even end up filing false sexual abuse cases on their own children to defame the other parent. The negative impact that such cases can have on a child is huge and parents should think and introspect before making any similar allegation, the court stated.
The court further said that if allegations are true then law will take its course but in the existing case, there is no greater sin than filing a false complaint for the purpose of not giving custody of the child, court said adding that it is clear that the law has been misused to agitate the woman for being married to the petitioner. The court opined that it is unfortunate that the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, which is intended to protect children from violence, has been misused here.
The case dates back to 2019. The girl's mother and biological father got divorced in 2017 and her custody was given to her mother. The father was allowed to visit the girl but she had to remain with the parent at home when either of the parents traveled to distant towns.
Later on when her mother went abroad for studies, the girl was left with her mother's third husband. Enraged at this, the girl's biological father filed a complaint against his wife's third husband and a relative, alleging that his daughter was sexually harassed. A chargesheet was submitted in this regard.
The third husband then approached the high court challenging the case registered against him under various sections of the IPC and under the POCSO Act.
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