A special court designated under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act has sentenced a 20-year-old neighbour of a teen to one year of rigorous imprisonment for stalking her for a month and repeatedly telling “I love you" to the minor.
The court also imposed a total fine of ₹23,000 on the youth. It found him guilty for offence under Indian Penal Code Sec 354 (D) (stalking) and Sec 12 of the POCSO Act (sexual harassment) among other offences.
Testimony of teen shows accused was desperate by he refusal: Judge
Special Judge Jayshri R Pulate stated in the judgment that the testimony of the teen shows that the accused was so desperate by her refusal, that he even slit his vein one day with a blade.
The victim had told the court in her testimony that the youth was her next-door neighbour and began messaging her expressing her love for her. She had not shown interest and he had then repeated the behavior at some tourist locations she was at with her friends.
Accused harassed teen even when she was not interested: Court
The court said the evidence of the victim shows that the accused was continuously stalking her and she did not like his following, she was disinterested in him and even expressly stated the same to him, but he continued to stalk her. Her testimony reveals, Judge Pulate said, that he would harass her though she was not interested in him.
The youth had taken the defence that he was falsely implicated as he owed money to the girl’s parents and also as there were disputes between the families due to water. The court rejected this defence and said no parents would do so just on the grounds that the accused failed to repay loan or due water tap tiffs.
