In a significant decision, the Allahabad High Court has said that a rape survivor can not be forced to put her child to a DNA test to ascertain its paternity.
A single bench comprising Justice Sangeeta Chandra of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court passed the order on a petition filed by the mother of a rape survivor seeking to challenge the order of a POCSO Court directing the victim for the DNA test of her child to determine paternity of the baby.
The POCSO court had given the order on an application moved by the minor rape accused seeking DNA test of the child.
The high court said that the rape survivor could not be "forced" to allow her child to undergo the DNA test to ascertain the baby's paternity. ''The consent of the rape survivor is essential for the DNA test,'' the court said in its order.
It also said that the question before the POCSO court was whether the offense of rape had been committed and not who the father of the baby was.
According to the prosecution, an FIR was lodged with the police in Sultanpur district in 2017 by a woman, who had alleged that the accused had raped her 14-year old daughter and that she was seven months pregnant.
Since the accused was a minor, the case was heard by the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB). During the pendency of the case, the victim gave birth to a baby. The accused filed an application before the JJB seeking a DNA test of the baby but the Board rejected the application.
The accused thereafter moved the POCSO Court which ordered for the DNA test of the child.
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