A special court has sentenced a 30-year-old labourer to five years of rigorous imprisonment for holding the hand of a 10-year-old to whom he was unknown and then pulling her close to him. The incident took place in Dadar when she was returning home with her friends from private tuition class.
Special judge under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Rekha N. Pandhare found Karuna Naik, an Orissa native guilty of aggravated sexual assault under the Act.
As per the police complaint, the Class V student was heading home at 6.30 pm from her tuition class that is ten minutes walk from her home. She was with her two friends when the incident took place.
Special Public Prosecutor Veena Shelar said the child told the court during her deposition that she had not seen the man before that incident. The child told the court further that he had pulled her bag from her shoulder. She had let go of her bag, but he then held her hand and pulled her towards him. She was frightened and raised an alarm. Another man came and rescued her. She ran home and informed her mother about the incident. When her mother arrived at the spot with her, she found the public beating the man. After some time police arrived at the scene and the mother filed a complaint against the man.
