Mumbai: A special POCSO court has sentenced a Dharavi resident to 10 years imprisonment for sexually assaulting two minor girls in July 2020. The 11 and 14-year-old had run away from home seeking work when the accused Prakash Sarwade lured them with job offers but instead took them to a dance bar and assaulted them at night.
Special POCSO judge Priya Bankar said that Sarwade should have handed them over to the police but instead exploited them. The girls had fled home due to family issues and sought jobs through a friend. When that failed, they met Sarwade, who offered them shelter but later assaulted them.
The next morning, the victims contacted a friend, but before she arrived, police and a victim’s mother intervened. Sarwade was arrested on July 6. His defence of false implication was rejected by the court, which found no reason for the victims to fabricate allegations.
