Mumbai: A special court designated under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) has sentenced a 30-year-old to a year in prison for following a schoolgirl for a fortnight in 2015 and saying ‘I love you’ to her.
Special judge Jayshri R. Pulate also imposed a fine of Rs. 10,000 on the youth. The offence is punishable by a maximum of three years in jail. The court said in its judgment that he is not a habitual offender and hence can be sentenced to one-year in jail.
The complaint was lodged at the Tilak Nagar police station by the mother of the minor - in Class 7 at the time of the incident in 2015. Deposing before the court, the girl had told it that the youth had been following her since 15 days before April 17, 2015. He had asked her name and told ‘I love you’ to her, she said. She had not responded and the following day when he had approached her, she had handed him a letter, which stated that she would be complaining to her parents if he continued the behaviour. He had said ‘sorry’ and left.
However, on Apr 17, 2015, she said he had restrained her when she was proceeding home. She screamed and her mother who was walking some distance ahead, had come over. She had then pointed to the youth and told her mother about her ordeal, while the youth had fled. A police complaint was eventually lodged.
Judge Pulate said in the order that there is ample evidence on record that the victim had shown disinterest in talking to him and still the accused had constantly stalked her. Her testimony reveals, it said, that she disliked his following. “She was disinterested in him and had stated so to him that she would inform her parents, but the accused continued to stalk her,” the order read.
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