In Brief
Medical professionals at a hospital—a gynaecologist, paediatrician, and hospital administrator—were charged with failing to report a suspected rape under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act when they treated a minor rape victim during emergency labour. The Supreme Court quashed the proceedings, holding that Section 19(1) of POCSO requires actual knowledge that an offence has been committed, not mere circumstantial inference. The court found no evidence that the victim or her mother informed the appellants of prior abuse. The victim's age alone, recorded as 18 at admission, does not obligate medical professionals to investigate or deduce a crime. Professional duty in emergency care is to treat the patient, not conduct criminal investigations.
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