POCSO Act: Thane Court Sentences Man for Sexual Assault on Minor Girl

A special court in Thane (Maharashtra) has sentenced a man to seven years of imprisonment for sexually assaulting a minor girl.

Additional sessions judge A S Bhagwat convicted the accused Amit Mahendra Rajbhar (31) of charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 5000 on the convict individual.

Additional public prosecutor V G Kadu informed the court that the victim and the accused lived in the same locality in Bhayandar and knew each other.

It was informed by the additional public prosecutor V G Kadu that the victim and Rajbhar (the accused) lived in the same locality in Bhavandar.

A per the public prosecutor, the accused sexually assaulted the 17-year-old girl from June 2017 to October 2018 at different locations and also threatened to kill her father if she informed about the incident to anyone.

It was only in October 2018 when a case was filed against the accused and later on he was arrested.

In his ruling, the judge held that the prosecution successfully established charges under section 3 of the POCSO Act. However, they failed to prove the accusations of rape and other sections of the POCSO and IT Act as stated in the FIR.

Nine prosecution witnesses, comprising the victim and four police officers, were scrutinized in the case.