The Thane Session’s Court has convicted 43-year-old Santosh More, a resident of Diva, under the stringent Prevention of Children Against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for sexually assaulting a three-year-old girl in 2022. The special POCSO court, presided over by Judge D. S. Deshmukh, sentenced him to five years of rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs. 10,000. The court based its verdict on hearsay evidence, noting that the three-year-old, who could not fully understand or articulate what happened, was able to communicate the incident through gestures.
'The defense advocate opposed the prosecution's case, arguing that there was no direct evidence and that the prosecution relied solely on the testimony of the child’s mother. The mother had testified on behalf of the child, having gathered information from her. Addressing the hearsay evidence aspect, the court stated, "The prosecution’s case is based on the evidence of the mother and father of the three-year-old victim.
The accused objected, arguing that without examining the child, the mother's entire testimony is hearsay. Admittedly, there is no eyewitness to the incident. The mother heard the child's shouts in the accused's room. When she called out, the child ran to her, hugged her, and narrated the incident."
The court while passing its verdict held, "Considering the age of the child, at such a tender age, she is hardly able to speak properly. She does not even understand what actually happened to her and can only communicate through gestures. The mother's testimony indicates that the child pointed to her private parts to explain what the accused did to her. The child did not know how to convey the sexual assault to her mother. Therefore, I am of the considered opinion that the testimony of the mother and father does not fall under hearsay evidence."
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The incident occurred in December 2022 when More picked up the child, who was playing in the courtyard of her chawl, and took her to his house. When the child’s mother couldn't find her, she screamed for her. Hearing this, the child screamed from More’s house and came out running and crying. The Mumbra police subsequently registered a case against More.
