The Special POCSO Court has handed down a ten-year prison sentence to two men found guilty of eve-teasing and sexually harassing a ten-year-old girl on a daily basis.
The case came to light after the victim’s father intervened in a fight involving the perpetrators and promptly reported the incident to the police in October 2020.
The case, registered at the Bangur Nagar police station, dates back to April 2020 when the accused were involved in a scuffle with another local boy. Despite efforts by the victim’s parents to defuse the situation, animosity persisted, leading to further confrontations.
According to the victim’s parents, the accused frequently loitered near their residence and targeted their daughter, aged 10 years and 10 months, whenever she visited the nearby grocery store. Despite the victim’s repeated complaints, the parents chose to overlook the incidents to avoid escalating tensions.
On October 18, 2020, one of the accused physically assaulted the victim as she returned home from the grocery store. Although the girl managed to escape and reach home safely, she hesitated to disclose the incident to her parents. Later that evening, when she revisited the shop, the accused subjected her to sexual harassment, accompanied by threats to dissuade her from reporting the incident to her parents, citing a previous altercation with her father.
Prompt action was taken by the family, leading to the arrest of the accused on October 19, 2020. In its ruling, the Special Court pointed out the deliberate targeting of the minor girl by the accused due to a previous dispute with her father. Rejecting any leniency under the Probation of Offenders Act, the court stressed upon the need to address such behaviour decisively to prevent further serious offences.
