'The girls were of matured understanding to differentiate between good touch and bad touch': Court
The sports coach accused of sexually abusing students, said that during a 'kabaddi' or 'lagori' game, unintentional touching happens.
Mumbai: In a case wherein a sports coach was convicted of sexually assaulting civic school students, a special court underscored that “the girls (who were in the high school at the time of the incident) were of matured understanding to differentiate between good touch and bad touch”. Designated to hear cases lodged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the court made the remark in its detailed order which convicted the 42-year-old coach. He was sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment on Monday.
The Prosecution under POCSO Act
According to the prosecution, the coach committed the offence in Alibaug, after slyly taking 14 girls to a resort there on the pretext of a tournament. A woman sports teacher was also accompanying the group. Later, he told the girls that the tournament got cancelled due to someone's death. Five students had testified before the court against him, while one had narrated how he sexually assaulted her when she was asleep in the bus returning to Mumbai. Similarly, another girl had testified how he touched her inappropriately during a wrestling coaching session.
Coach defends himself by saying he was being 'falsely implicated'
The coach raised the defence that he had been falsely implicated and pointed out the month-long delay in filing the police complaint. To which, the court said that a girl would not be comfortable in confiding such acts to an unknown person. The crime had come to light after the local police station received an anonymous complaint. Special POCSO Judge SC Jadhav said that this showed that the issue was raised, discussed and not attended, leaving the children in ruins.
Good touch vs bad touch
Contending the accusation of inappropriate touch, the coach said that during a 'kabaddi' or 'lagori' game, unintentional touching happens. Countering the argument, the court made the 'good touch, bad touch' remark, while noting the descriptions of the sexual assault as narrated by the girls. Such touches made the victims uncomfortable or awkward and these advances of a sexual nature were intended to outrage their modesty, said Judge SC Jadhav.
Asserting that he was the girls' custodian at the time (of the Alibaug trip), the court also noted that the coach had already spoken to the resort manager two days before the visit, which shows he intended to take the girls there.
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