A special court designated under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) on Tuesday sentenced a 73-year-old man, who used to work as a security guard, to five years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting a six-year-old child at a public garden where she had gone to play along with her brother and a friend.
The incident took place Aug 2020. The child, who was then in Class 1, had gone in the noon on that day to the nearby public garden along with her 10-year-old brother and their neighborhood friend. Prosecutor Veena Shelar said it had started raining and she took shelter in a shed in the garden where the man was also taking shelter. The man Sikandar Khan had forcibly taken the child on his lap and then touched her inappropriately on her private parts.
The Shameful Act
Her brother noticed the act and tried to rescue her, but the man would not let go. Then the friend too joined him and both children tugged her free from the man’s grip. Her brother carried her home and narrated the incident to their mother. The child too narrated her ordeal. The mother then rushed along with a woman neighbour to the garden where the friend was waiting. The man was at the time trying to escape and the children pointed him out to the women, who chased and caught hold of him. Special POCSO Judge SC Jadhav also imposed a fine of ₹2,000 on the man.
