Supreme Court on Monday overturned the High Court's verdict to free a man who was convicted of molesting his stepchild.
The magistrate court of a southern island sentenced the man to 15 years in jail in 2016, after finding him guilty of molesting his 11-year-old stepchild in 2013. The High Court annulled the ruling and acquitted the man last year.
Concluding the state's appeal of the case on Monday, the Supreme Court stated in its verdict that the victim had claimed sexual abuse in their testimony, and given their age, the extensive details they provided could only be perceived as truth.
Further noting that the police had to retake the victim's statement a few months after the investigation due to losing the original audio, the top court stated that the minor discrepancies between both statements were not substantial enough to claim that the victim had changed their story. The verdict also highlighted that the victim did not later claim they were not molested.
In addition, the Supreme Court noted that the victim's mother, in her witness statement, claimed that the child told her about the molestation soon after it occurred and that the mother also relayed it to a younger sibling of the perpetrator. Stating that the mother's testimony backed the truth of the child's claims, the verdict also highlighted that the medical reports showed that the victim had been sexually abused.
The Supreme Court added that the defendant also admitted in court that child had good discipline and would not perpetrate false claims against their stepfather.
Hence, the three judges on the top court bench unanimously decided to annul the High Court's verdict, and ordered to execute the magistrate court's 15-year prison sentence for the man.
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