In Maharashtra’s capital Mumbai, a 19-year-old youth found it very costly to hold the hand of a minor girl and tell her I love you. A special POCSO court of Mumbai has sentenced the accused youth to two years of rigorous imprisonment in this case.
The court found the youth guilty under the POCSO Act.
According to the report of the news agency, the court has given this decision in the case registered under the POCSO Act to protect children from sexual crimes. Judge Ashwini Lokhande said that the words spoken by the accused have definitely hurt the heart of the 14-year-old minor girl. After the hearing on July 30, the court had convicted the accused of molestation. However, the accused was acquitted of charges under the stringent POCSO Act.
This is a case of 2019
According to the prosecution, the mother of the minor girl had lodged a complaint at Sakinaka police station in September 2019. The complainant told the police that his daughter had gone to a nearby shop to buy tea leaves, but returned home crying.
According to the complaint, when questioned, the girl told her mother that a man followed her on the first floor of the building, held her hand and said ‘I love you’. However, the young man had declared himself innocent of the allegations against him. During the trial, the prosecution examined four witnesses, including the victim and her mother, to prove the guilt of the accused.
The accused declared himself innocent
During this, the accused declared himself innocent in the court and while defending himself claimed that he was having an affair with the victim and he himself had called her to meet him on the day of the incident. However, the court said in its order that if the victim had an affair with the accused, she would not have told her mother about the incident out of fear.
Accused of threatening the accused
Furthermore, when the girl’s mother went to talk to the accused after the incident, he threatened her and told her to “do whatever he wants”, the evidence of the victim and her mother corroborated the allegations. The court told the accused’s lawyer that no evidence was presented before the court to prove the evidence given as false.
Moreover, the facts of the victim’s love affair with the accused were refuted by both the witnesses (the minor girl and her mother), the court said, adding that their evidence was inspired by confidence. The judge said in his judgment that the words uttered by the accused certainly insulted the dignity of the victim, who was only 14 years old at the time of the incident.