A 37-year-old man who in October-2017 had tried to lure an eight-year-old boy from his building with Rs. 20 before sodomizing him, was last Saturday sentenced by a special court to ten years in prison.
The court designated under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act also imposed a fine of Rs. 30,000 on the man who worked as a driver. Of the fine amount, it has directed that Rs. 20,000 be paid to the child as compensation. Special Judge under the POCSO Act Sanjashree Gharat has also directed that the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) provide him adequate compensation. The man was convicted for the offences of kidnapping, unnatural intercourse under the IPC as well as under sections of the POCSO Act.
Judge Gharat in her judgment while deciding on the point of quantum of sentence said that the man resides in the same building and there was an element of trust due to which the child accompanied him, which he had taken advantage of. He had committed an offence against the order of nature, she said, which at the tender age of the child would leave an impact on him throughout his life.
The man in his defence had said that he had been falsely implicated and that the reason behind the case against him was that the child’s mother had wanted to purchase his flat and he had sold it to a third party.
The complaint had been filed in Shahu Nagar police station by the father of the child. Appearing before the court, the child had deposed that on 2 October, 2017 around 11 pm when he was sitting on the bed outside his home, the man offered him Rs. 20 and asked him to come along with him. When he refused, he took him upstairs forcibly and in the staircase of the second floor, pulled down his pant and sexually assaulted him. He further told the court that the man gave him the Rs. 20 and told him that they were friends and he must not tell anybody about it.
The child had revealed the incident to his father when taken into confidence. His grandfather had informed his father that the man had taken the child upstairs and had noticed the child crying when back home.
The publishers permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)