A 42-year-old man was sentenced to five years of imprisonment on Tuesday by a special POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act court in Mumbai after finding him guilty of molesting and sexually harassing a nine-year-old girl living in his neighbourhood in 2017.
Besides announcing imprisonment, the special court judge Priya Bankar also imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 on the accused.
On July 29, 2017, when the victim’s parents were out on work, the accused took the girl, who was playing outside, to his place.
According to the police case, the accused showed porn videos to the minor and then molested her. When the girl told her parents, an FIR was registered against the accused at the Mahim police station, and he was subsequently arrested.
“Under the supervision of seniors, we collected strong evidence in the case and filed a strong chargesheet to ensure that the accused get strict punishment for targeting a minor girl,” said the investigation officer of the case.
The court acknowledged the evidence presented by the prosecution, led by public prosecutor Veena Shelar, and convicted the accused under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and POCSO Act for molestation.
The accused, who got bail in the case after remaining around three months in jail, would now be sent back to jail to serve the remaining period of sentence.
The court directed the Secretary of the District Legal Services Authority, Mumbai, to pay the compensation to the victim under the “Victim Compensation Scheme” if the compensation cannot be paid to the victim out of the fine imposed on the accused.
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