A special court on Friday sentenced a 28-year-old to five years of imprisonment for stalking and molesting a 10-year-old after her mother went an extra mile to present the CCTV footage of the incident as evidence.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs. 10,000 on the man under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and directed that Rs. 8,000 be given to the victim as compensation.
Prosecutor Geeta Sharma said that after her daughter informed her of the incident, the mother went to Mahavir Stores in Colaba, where the incident took place. She requested the shop owner to show her the CCTV footage, which she recorded on her mobile. She then transferred the video to a CD and produced it before the court. She also produced the required certificate under the Evidence Act to establish its veracity.
The police also got hold of another CCTV footage of the accused Shiva Jamkar, who followed the child and her friend while entering the shop.
Special Judge Bharti Kale said in her judgment that the complainant did not let go of the incident. She pursued it wherein people think over whether to lodge such cases a report or not. It remarked that the mother had made an effort to accommodate the report and collect the CCTV footage to bring the accused before the court.
Refusing leniency to the man, the court said that the victim was ten years old at the time of the incident and the acts committed were very serious, which hampered the progress of girl children.
As per the complaint, the child and her friend had gone around 6 pm to a store to buy rice and friendship bands. There, a man had touched her inappropriately. She thought the touch was by mistake but then found the man following them again. Then they went to another store where the man entered after them and repeated the behaviour, pinching her this time. She narrated the incident to her mother on returning home.
