Observing that such incidents leave scar for a long time, a special court under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act sentenced a 27-year-old to five-years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting a 10-year-old child from his neighbourhood.
The youth’s advocate had sought leniency for him on the basis of his age and also that he has no criminal record. The court stated in its judgment that there is an increase in cases of sexual offences against children and said that child sexual abuse cases demonstrate the inhuman mindset of the accused.
Special POCSO Judge Priya P Bankar said in the order, “Children are easy prey due to their tender age, physical vulnerabilities, and inexperience of life and society.” The court added that the incident took place in a slum area, where normally people know each other very well.
“There is a very adverse impact of the incident on the victim girl, on her family members and even on society. They are under the impression that the house and nearby vicinity is not safe for children and it is going to cause an alarming situation in the society,” Judge Bankar said. The incident took place on February 22, 2016 when the child was playing outside her home in the evening. In her deposition, she told the court that the accused took her to his home for sketching and then started touching her inappropriately.
