Mumbai: A special court designated under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on Tuesday sentenced a 25-year-old man to three years rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl while she was travelling in the local train with her family.
Special Judge under the POCSO Act Bharti Kale also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on Mankhurd-resident Mukesh Yadav. Of the amount, the court has directed Rs 8,000 to be paid as compensation to the victim. The man, a carpenter by profession, who has been in jail since his arrest after the incident, will be given a set off for the time he has spent in jail.
Police Sub-Inspector Kapil Patil of Kurla railway police said that the girl had gone with her family to her aunt’s home in Badlapur on 31 Dec 2017 to celebrate the new year and was returning the next day, when the incident took place. The girl told the court during her deposition that the family – her mother, father and brother, had boarded a CST-bound train from Badlapur station and entered a crowded general compartment. They were standing in the gangway and when the crowd in the train reduced at Dombivli station, the family shifted to stand near the door. At Thane, the girl told court that a man came and stood facing her. Her father told him to stand away, but he ignored her father. When the train was between Thane and Mulund stations, he groped her in her private parts. Feeling violated, she started crying and told her father about it. Yadav alighted at Mulund station, when her father, with the help of other commuters and the police, managed to apprehend him.
Special Public Prosecutor Sulabha Joshi said CCTV footage which showed the man running away from the police and public after alighting at Mulund railway station was used as an evidence.
