E-Paper
Salon owner gets 5-year RI for outraging teen’s modesty
The convict, Murshid alias Monu, 32, of Daddumajra, has also been told to pay a fine of ₹21,000. The victim, an orphan who stays with her uncle and aunt, had told the police that she had started training at one of the salons owned by Murshid in August 2021.
A special POCSO court awarded five-year rigorous imprisonment to a salon owner who had outraged the modesty of a 15-year-old girl undergoing training at his facility in 2022.
The convict, Murshid alias Monu, 32, of Daddumajra, has also been told to pay a fine of ₹21,000.
The victim, an orphan who stays with her uncle and aunt, had told the police that she had started training at one of the salons owned by Murshid in August 2021.
Murshid owned two salons in Sector 24, one for men and one for women. The victim had enrolled at the women’s salon to learn the work.
She said that she used to go to the salon after school and Murshid himself used to train her.
During one of the lessons, Murshid had molested her, she said.
The girl had disclosed the incident to her schoolteacher, who had alerted the child helpline following which a case was registered under Sections 354 (criminal force to outrage woman’s modesty) and 354 A (sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 10 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act at the Sector 11 police station in 2022.
The court found him guilty under Section 10 of POCSO and Section 354 of IPC.
The defence had argued that the victim’s aunt had lodged the police complaint after Murshid asked her for the training fee of ₹50,000. It was also stated that the girl had herself stopped coming to the salon.
Murshid had also prayed for leniency, stating that he was implicated and that he is a poor person with ailing old parents, wife and children to look after.
The special public prosecutor for the state argued that the convict should be dealt with sternly as not doing so would undermine the public confidence in efficacy of law.
The special fast track court observed: “The convict, instead of treating the parentless victim with respect and affection, has outraged her modesty. The convict, by his deplorable act, has left the experience of unpleasant incident to exist in her memory lane forever. (sic)”
About the plea, the court observed: “Considering the plea of convict, age of the victim and necessity of harmonious construction between deterrence against crime viz-a-viz approach of punishment, hand of justice need not be tempered with mercy in the present case. Such abhorrent act on behalf of the accused does not augur well with our ethos.”
The court also recommended the case for award of ₹1 lakh compensation by district legal services authority, Chandigarh, under the victim compensation scheme.
