Sexual harassment case: 23-yr-old sentenced to 6 months in jail for shouting ‘I love you, you love me’ at minor

In a sexual harassment case, a 23-year-old man has been sentenced to six months in prison for shouting at a minor girl and saying “I love you, you love me” at a suburban railway station. The incident had taken place at Kurla station on September 17, 2014, when the girl was returning home from college along with friends.

According to the prosecution, the then 17-year-old girl had left her college in South Mumbai along with two of her friends and reached CST around 5.15pm and met a few more friends there. They caught a train for Kurla and travelled in the general compartment next to the motorman’s cabin.

“We usually took the same compartment as it is close to the exit at Kurla station. As we alighted at Kurla, an unknown man came near me and loudly said ‘I love you, you love me’,” the girl had said in her statement. The prosecution submitted that the utterance by the accused had outraged the modesty of the victim.

The girl further said that she tried confronting the accused but he began to run away. The commotion attracted the attention of other commuters on the platform who caught hold of the man and started to beat him. The Government Railway Police took custody of the man and filed an FIR based on the girl’s complaint. The accused, Chembur resident Nitin Durgade, was arrested under IPC Section 354 (sexual harassment) and Section 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The prosecution examined witnesses including the girl, her friends, other passengers and GRP officials who had nabbed Durgade.

He had sought bail in 2015 on a PR bond, which was rejected by the court as he had not been able to submit a permanent residential proof.

In 2016, he was granted bail by the special POCSO court which observed that he had been in jail for a ‘sufficient time’ and that his custody was not required. He was granted bail on a surety of Rs 15,000. Since he has been in prison for more than six months , he has already served the sentence passed against him.