MUMBAI: Rejecting that skin to skin contact was a necessity in a sexual assault, a special Pocso court found guilty a 40-year-old Mumbai man and sentenced him to five years rigorous imprisonment for repeatedly touching the private parts of his 5-year-old daughter over her clothes. The court also refuted the defence argument that the child had not used the word “finger”. Calling the arguments astonishing, the court said that the relevant section of the Pocso Act does not define how an assailant has to touch the child’s private parts in an incident of sexual assault. The offence related to sexual assault talks about sexual intent of the accused.
The court noted after the inappropriate touch the child had started reacting weirdly. “Needless to say that the accused did it (touching) with sexual intent which affects the mind of the small victim,” the court said.
In 2019, an alert class teacher had informed the child’s mother about her unusual behaviour of rubbing herself against the corner of the school benches after which the matter came to light. Refusing to grant leniency to the man, the court observed, “ A father is a fortress, trustree of his daughter. This crime, therefore, becomes more grievous. In present case, I do not find extenuating or mitigating circumstances on record to justify imposition of lesser punishment than prescribed by law,” special judge HC Shende said.
The father had claimed that the mother had falsely implicated him as they had frequent fights over her disinterest in looking after the child. He alleged that the child was tutored. However, the child denied these claims and said that her mother cooked “good food.”
The court pointed out, “The acts of the victim first were noticed by her teacher and then the mother came to know about it so there is no possibility of false implication of the accused out of grudge…”
Pocso court found guilty a 40-year-old Mumbai man and sentenced him to five years rigorous imprisonment for repeatedly touching the private parts of his 5-year-old daughter over her clothes.
The court noted after the inappropriate touch the child had started reacting weirdly. “Needless to say that the accused did it (touching) with sexual intent which affects the mind of the small victim,” the court said.
In 2019, an alert class teacher had informed the child’s mother about her unusual behaviour of rubbing herself against the corner of the school benches after which the matter came to light. Refusing to grant leniency to the man, the court observed, “ A father is a fortress, trustree of his daughter. This crime, therefore, becomes more grievous. In present case, I do not find extenuating or mitigating circumstances on record to justify imposition of lesser punishment than prescribed by law,” special judge HC Shende said.
The father had claimed that the mother had falsely implicated him as they had frequent fights over her disinterest in looking after the child. He alleged that the child was tutored. However, the child denied these claims and said that her mother cooked “good food.”
The court pointed out, “The acts of the victim first were noticed by her teacher and then the mother came to know about it so there is no possibility of false implication of the accused out of grudge…”
Pocso court found guilty a 40-year-old Mumbai man and sentenced him to five years rigorous imprisonment for repeatedly touching the private parts of his 5-year-old daughter over her clothes.
