A special POCSO court here in Maharashtra has sentenced a 25-year-old man to five years' rigorous imprisonment for sexually abusing his minor niece in 2018, even as the victim turned hostile during the case trial.

Special Judge (POCSO) V V Virkar passed the order on December 10 and a copy of it was made available on Monday.

She pronounced the accused guilty under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, and also imposed a collective fine of Rs 6,000 on him.

Additional public prosecutor Rekha Hiwrale told the court that the victim, then aged 11, and the accused, who is her maternal uncle, resided in the same locality at Rabale in Navi Mumbai town.

On January 30, 2018, and on some occasions before that, the accused sexually abused the victim. He also threatened to kill her mother, if she revealed about the offence to anyone.

The complainant in the case, who is the sister of the accused, and the victim turned hostile during the trial.

However, the judge in her order said the prosecution successfully proved the charges against the accused and he needed to be sentenced.

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