MUMBAI: Observing that it is necessary to curb exploitation of girls aspiring to be actors, a special court convicted and sentenced a photographer, Nageshwar Rao (43), to one year imprisonment for molesting a teenager during a look test in 2015, reports Rebecca Samervel. Finding the accused guilty, the court said, “After objection by the prosecutrix, the reply of the accused that it is common in the field of acting indicates that it was not an accidental touch...but it is a deliberate act...with sexual intent.”
The accused was, however, acquitted of the stringent Pocso Act and found guilty under IPC instead, as the prosecution failed to prove the girl was a minor at the time.
Teen’s testimony against photographer is reliable and trustworthy, says court
A special court has convicted and sentenced a 43-year-old businessman to one year imprisonment for molesting a teenager. The girl deposed during the hearing and identified the accused. The court said that it had found her evidence to be reliable, trustworthy and inspiring confidence.
“After the incident, the prosecutrix came out of the room crying. She immediately brought the incident to the notice of her family members. They immediately reported the matter to the police. Therefore, there is no room for concoction or an afterthought act by prosecution witnesses,” the court observed.
During cross-examination by the defence lawyer, the survivor denied the suggestion that since the accused did not find her audition to be up to the mark, her mother got annoyed and threatened to teach him a lesson by falsely implicating him.
The survivor told the cops that on March 2, 2015, she had gone for an audition to the office of the accused, who is also a businessman, with her mother, brother and maternal uncle. It was submitted that the accused took 4-5 photos and called her for a look test the following day. The survivor’s further said that the following day, after shooting in Indian and western outfits, the accused gave her skimpy clothes and asked her to enact that she was going to watch a movie with her boyfriend. Her family members were asked to wait outside.
The survivor said that on the pretext of fixing her clothes for the pictures, the accused then began to touch her inappropriately. When she objected, he replied this was common in look tests. At that time, the survivor said she refused to shoot further, came out of the room and narrated the incident to her family.