MUMBAI: Six years after he molested his 26-year-old neighbour following a fight over parking his bicycle, a 40-year-old south Mumbai man was convicted and sentenced to one year imprisonment. The court, however, acquitted his 37-year-old sister who was also booked on charges of outraging a woman's modesty. The sister had laughed off the incident and told the neighbour's mother: "If your daughter dresses up indecently, then my brother is bound to act this way."
The magistrate court refuted the defence argument that the woman falsely implicated the accused over a prior enmity between the two families. "Previous enmity between parties is sought to be brought on record by defence by citing some non-cognizable (NC) complaints. However, the complaints are pretty old, ie 2006 and 2009, and they are not in near proximity with the date of alleged incident. So, the alleged incident cannot be connected with NC complaints," the court said.
The court said that the accused had full knowledge that his act was likely to outrage the woman's modesty. "Under no circumstances, this act can be called normal. Nobody can take such liberty with the body of a woman. Such behaviour is neither morally nor legally acceptable," the court observed.
Among the witnesses examined by the prosecution were the woman, her mother and the investigating officer.
The woman told the court that on October 13, 2013, she could not perform her routine 'tulsi puja' as a bicycle was kept in the way leading to the building's terrace. The woman said when she expressed her annoyance to her mother, the sister of the accused came there and started quarrelling. The woman said that while the argument was on, the accused came upstairs and started laughing. He then molested the woman, pushed her and told her to go back home, she said. "It was so shocking that I lost my senses. My mother asked the sister of the accused what her brother was doing. She told my mother that teri ladki aise kapade pahenegi to aise hi karega mera bhai," the woman recalled. She said that the accused and his sister started laughing.
The woman tried to register an FIR on the day of the incident but cops refused to note it down and asked her to bring the complaint in writing. The woman went home crying and returned to the police station two days later. Finally, the cops registered an FIR against the accused. The woman's mother corroborated her version.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
The magistrate court refuted the defence argument that the woman falsely implicated the accused over a prior enmity between the two families. "Previous enmity between parties is sought to be brought on record by defence by citing some non-cognizable (NC) complaints. However, the complaints are pretty old, ie 2006 and 2009, and they are not in near proximity with the date of alleged incident. So, the alleged incident cannot be connected with NC complaints," the court said.
The court said that the accused had full knowledge that his act was likely to outrage the woman's modesty. "Under no circumstances, this act can be called normal. Nobody can take such liberty with the body of a woman. Such behaviour is neither morally nor legally acceptable," the court observed.
Among the witnesses examined by the prosecution were the woman, her mother and the investigating officer.
The woman told the court that on October 13, 2013, she could not perform her routine 'tulsi puja' as a bicycle was kept in the way leading to the building's terrace. The woman said when she expressed her annoyance to her mother, the sister of the accused came there and started quarrelling. The woman said that while the argument was on, the accused came upstairs and started laughing. He then molested the woman, pushed her and told her to go back home, she said. "It was so shocking that I lost my senses. My mother asked the sister of the accused what her brother was doing. She told my mother that teri ladki aise kapade pahenegi to aise hi karega mera bhai," the woman recalled. She said that the accused and his sister started laughing.
The woman tried to register an FIR on the day of the incident but cops refused to note it down and asked her to bring the complaint in writing. The woman went home crying and returned to the police station two days later. Finally, the cops registered an FIR against the accused. The woman's mother corroborated her version.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
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