Mumbai: A special POCSO court has sentenced a 45-year-old man to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping a four-and-a-half-year-old neighbour girl in 2016. As per the complaint lodged with the Bangur Nagar police, the victim went to see fireworks on October 30, 2016. When she didn't return till 10.30pm, her parents went in search of her and saw the girl coming towards them crying.
When the mother asked the child why she was weeping, the latter said that she had pain in her private parts. Upon checking, the woman saw blood stains on the child's pyjamas. When queried further, the victim pointed towards the accused, who was standing near a public toilet. She also narrated the abhorrent act by signs, after which her enraged parents thrashed the man and handed him over to the police. After a local hospital confirmed sexual assault, the girl was taken to Cooper Hospital where she was admitted.
Defence Claims Discrepancies In Testimonies:
During the trial, the mother, who just spoke only Telugu, deposed through a translator. She identified the accused as her neighbour. The victim, who is now aged 12 years, also identified the man. However, the defence claimed there were discrepancies in the testimonies, averring that the accused is not the same person who sexually assaulted the minor. The girl sustained injuries after falling in a gutter and not due to rape, said the defence.
Rejecting the theory, the court said, “The defence has tried to take benefit of different names (of the accused) referred to by the victim, but she stated that she had seen the accused in her childhood also.” Also, her mother's testimony that the accused was the same person towards whom her daughter had pointed out after the crime appears believable, the court held, adding that medical evidence also ruled out that the child got injured after falling in a gutter.
