Chembur resident gets 20-year jail term for sexually assaulting minor

MUMBAI: A man, 32, sentenced to 20 years for sexually assaulting a 17-year-old boy multiple times from 2016 to 2020, as confirmed by a special POCSO court.

MUMBAI: A special POCSO court recently sentenced a 32-year-old Chembur resident to 20 years’ imprisonment for sexually assaulting a 17-year-old boy residing in his neighbourhood several times between 2016 and 2020. The complaint was lodged at the RCF police station in October 2020 by the mother of the boy, who came to know about the incident after she saw a message from the accused in her son’s phone.

Chembur resident gets 20-year jail term for sexually assaulting minor

The boy’s mother later noticed that there were several messages in which the man had called the boy to his house. Upon inquiring, her son told her that it began in July 2016, when the accused called him to his house under the pretext of playing games and showed him porn videos and, also, sexually assault him, as per the investigating body.

As per the complainant, when the boy began crying, the accused threatened and said that his parents would beat him and drive him out. Despite shifting homes, the accused continued to message, sexually assault and threaten the boy, said the complainant.

While testifying before the court, the boy said that the man used to call him to his house under the pretext of playing games on the phone, after which the man used to show porn videos and sexually assault him. The first incident took place in 2016, when the boy was studying in Class 8 and continued till the incident was reported in October 2020.

The accused claimed that he was falsely implicated in the case at the instance of the mother of the victim after a dispute arose between them out of monetary transactions.

The court, in a detailed order passed on December 18, observed that there is oral evidence of the victim which proves the case of sexual assault. The court said that the defence has failed to bring anything on record to show that the boy’s mother falsely implicated him in the case.

Observing that there is no reason to disbelieve the oral evidence given by the victim, the special sessions judge Priya P Bankar said, “I came to the conclusion that prosecution has proved that the accused has committed repeated carnal intercourse/penetrative sexual assault with the minor victim boy, below 17 years old and, therefore, he has committed the offence punishable under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and the offence under Section 05(l) punishable under Section 06 of the Protection of Children From Sexual Offences Act, 2012”.

“The accused is 37 years old and was having sufficient maturity at the time of incident. Despite that, he has involved in such type of offence with the minor victim boy, while he was 13 years old,” observed the court, sentencing Dhotre to 20 years of imprisonment.