Rape convict molests minor girl in Thane; gets 7-year rigorous imprisonment

Thane: A court in Maharashtra's Thane district has sentenced a man to seven years' rigorous imprisonment for molesting an 11-year-old girl in 2019.

The deposition of the girl nailed the 45-year-old accused, who had earlier also been convicted in another case of rape of a minor girl and served seven-year jail term for that offence, according to the prosecution.

Special Judge (POCSO Act), D S Deshmukh, on Wednesday, sentenced the accused to seven years' rigorous imprisonment and also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on him.

Special Public Prosecutor Sandhya H Mhatre told the court on November 22, 2019, when the victim was sitting in a shop outside her house in Diva area of Thane district, the accused, who resided in the neighbourhood, told her that someone was calling her.

As the girl was reluctant to go with him, he picked her up and took her to an unoccupied room near a school where he molested her. He also warned the girl not to inform about the incident to anyone.

The girl, however, raised an alarm and some persons around rescued her, beat up the man and handed him over to police.

The court dismissed the defense of the accused that there was a dispute with the victim's family following which he had been falsely implicated in the case.

The judge in his order said the prosecution has successfully proved beyond all reasonable doubt the charges against the accused, who needs to be convicted and sentenced.

Five prosecution witnesses, including the victim, were examined, to prove the charges, Mumbra police station constable Vidyasagar Koli said.

The accused had earlier also been convicted under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and sentenced to seven years' rigorous imprisonment in 2012 in the case of rape of an eight-year-old girl, Mhatre said.

After being released, the accused molested the victim in the present case, she said.

The court referred the order to the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) for payment of appropriate compensation to the victim.