The Fast-Track Special POCSO Court, Panaji, has acquitted a 26-year-old man of all charges relating to the alleged rape and sexual assault of a minor girl as the prosecution’s case collapsed after the victim minor girl did not support its allegations and crucial DNA test results were also found negative.

Curchorem Police registered an FIR on 21 September 2025 against a resident of Quepem, based on a complaint filed by the minor’s mother. The prosecution alleged that, between 1 March 2025 and 30 June 2025, the accused had committed penetrative sexual assault against the minor at an ice-cream parlour in Curchorem.

The accused was arrested on 22 September 2025 and subsequently released on bail on 3 November 2025, before the commencement of the trial.
During the trial, the victim did not support the prosecution’s allegations. She stated that “nothing happened” between them and expressed her wish to marry the accused.

While acquitting the accused, the trial court relied on the forensic evidence submitted by the Goa State Forensic Science Laboratory in Verna. DNA profiling revealed that the accused’s DNA did not match the DNA of the aborted foetus, thereby establishing that he was not its biological father.