A special court has last Wednesday denied temporary bail to a 22-year-old labourer who is in custody for sexually assaulting a two-and-a-half year old toddler in his neighbourhood.
Special judge under the Protection of Children from Sexual offences (POCSO) Act Rekha Pandhare, while rejecting his plea for temporary bail said that he is charged with serious offences under the POCSO Act and that the directions of the apex court to decongest prisons cannot be applied to the case as offences under the POCSO Act are excluded for consideration for temporary bail. The court also noted that the case pertains to sexual assault of a two-and-a-half year old girl.
The youth, who is lodged in the Mumbai Central prison had sought interim bail citing the directions of the High Power Committee constituted for decongestion of prisons in the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic.
As per the police complaint lodged at Ghatkopar police station in 2018, the youth who hails from Uttar Pradesh and worked as a carpenter had offered a chocolate to the child and taken her to his room upstairs. The child’s mother has told him not to take her as she could fall down, but he insisted that he would get her back after she had eaten the chocolate. After some time, he brought the child back to her home. When her mother tried to make her sleep, the child would not sleep and pointing at her private part, complained of uneasiness. The mother got suspicious on examining the area and questioned the youth. He said that he had just touched her in the area and done nothing more. Thereafter, a police complaint was lodged.
