Court sentences man to ten years in prison for raping a minor | Thane News

THANE: Based on the statement of a nine-year-old girl against a 44-year-old man who sexually assaulted her in 2015, the Thane court sentenced the accused to 10 years RI for the crime.

While pronouncing the verdict of Manwar Hossain Naruddin Shaikh, Justice DS Deshmukh observed that “the act of sexual abuse of a child is a serious matter and such offences must be strictly punished.”

According to the prosecution, the underage girl and the convicted man knew each other and she often visited him to watch television. On the fateful day, July 11, 2015, she went to him where he sexually abused her.

The victim’s father came home and found her missing. He started a frantic search and in the meantime came near the convict’s house. He happened to peek out of the window of the accused’s house where he sexually assaulted her who was screaming for help. Somehow the victim was rescued and the accused was booked and arrested under various sections of the Rape and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.

The investigating officer conducted the investigation and filed the chargesheet in the court, but the accused pleaded not guilty.

The prosecution made a strong case with five key witnesses including the victim, her mother and doctors. The evidence included the victim’s statement, medical examination reports and the Spot Panchanama. The statements of the victim and her mother were consistent and uncontradicted and corroborated the details of the assault.

The judge in his verdict after hearing both sides stated: “The punishment should be appropriate for the sexual assault and should send a clear message to society as a whole that perpetrators in such cases will be punished with an iron hand. The accused had forcible sexual intercourse with the minor victim, who was nine years old, which shows the mental state or disposition of the accused.”