The special court for Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) has sentenced a 26-year-old man from Parel to 10 years in jail for sexually assaulting and harassing a minor girl in 2017. The man had met the girl on a social networking site, and the case was registered in November 2018 when he posted the girl’s obscene photos.
According to the case registered with Bhoiwada police, the girl accepted the man’s request to connect as there were several mutual friends. One day, when she was waiting for her bus, he approached her. In January 2017, he asked her to allow him to visit her house, which she declined, following which he started visiting her colony.
Fearing defamation, she let him come home, where he raped her for many months. She confided in her friend and blocked him. However, he kept calling from different numbers, following which she had an anxiety attack on October 2, 2017, and was hospitalised and later was in ICU for three days.
Legal Proceedings And Court Verdict In The Assault Case
In January 2018, she spoke to her mother, who didn’t take action owing to her state of mind. In October, she found out about the messages, and the mother-daughter duo approached the police. The man was arrested and remained in prison till January 2019.
Public prosecutor Veena Shelar examined 12 witnesses, including the girl’s friends, mother, and doctor. The man claimed he had no role to play in the messages and the girl had alleged sexual assault after a year. The court, however, discarded his defense, saying that there was no elder male member in the girl’s house, and the mother approached the police after thinking hard about the prestige of the family.
