A special POCSO court in Thane has sentenced a man to 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting a 5-year-old girl in 2019, relying on her testimony and noting that the defence failed to show she had been tutored.
The accused, who resided in the neighbourhood, lured the child to his house, played television for her, and then sexually assaulted her. Following an investigation, the police filed a chargesheet. The accused was charged under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act . During the trial, the prosecution examined three key witnesses – the victim, her mother and the investigating officer, alongside documentary evidence. “The evidence of the victim is of sterling quality and defence has failed to impeach her evidence or bring on record any material to establish that she was tutored.
The incident occurred on the afternoon of December 1, 2019, when the victim, then aged 5, had gone to play at her neighbour’s house in a chawl (row tenement) in the Mumbra area of Maharashtra’s Thane district, according to the prosecution. The court directed that the fine amount of ₹ 6,000 be paid to the victim, and directed the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), Thane, to award her additional compensation.
Hence, I am relying upon her evidence,” the judge said. “Certain discrepancies in investigation, like drawing of spot panchanama of wrong spot or not sending victim for medical examination are not fatal as nothing is recovered from the spot,” he noted.
