Couple held guilty of minor’s sexual assault move Bombay HC

The couple claimed that they were falsely implicated by the parents of the survivor out of previous enmity

The elderly couple who were convicted and sentenced on Thursday for sexually assaulting a four-year-old girl have moved the Bombay high court (HC), challenging the judgment of the special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The lower court had asked the couple to pay compensation of ₹50,000 to the girl. (HT FILE)

The special court on Thursday sentenced the 87-year-old man and his 81-year-old wife to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of ₹1,000 each for sexually assaulting the child in 2013. The couple was also asked to pay compensation of ₹50,000 to the girl.

The special judge, Rekha N Pandhare, while sentencing the couple, observed that the survivor was a minor and the accused were her grandparents’ age.

The case against the couple was registered with VP Road police station in September 2013 for sexually abusing the girl who stayed in the same building as theirs in Girgaum.

In her statement to the police in 2013, the girl said the couple, whom she addressed as dada (grandfather) and dadi (grandmother), stopped her while she was returning home and made her sit on a swing. She said the ‘dada’ slapped her, while the ‘dadi’ held her tight. She claimed dada then disrobed her and sexually assaulted her. The girl said when she tried to run away, the dada spat on her before letting her go home.

The couple’s lawyer Dinesh Tiwari on Friday moved an appeal before the Bombay HC challenging their conviction and consequent prison term. In their appeal, the couple claimed that they were falsely implicated by the parents of the survivor out of previous enmity.

The court has held the couple guilty based on the testimony of the survivor who was eight years old when deposed. The couple in their appeal claimed that the testimony given by the victim is not reliable. “The judge failed to appreciate that the survivor and her mother have given different versions of the alleged incident,” stated the appeal. They further claimed that the prosecution had failed to examine crucial independent witnesses in the case.

Seven witnesses were examined during the trial that began in 2017 when the accused were out on bail. The court relied on the girl’s testimony recorded almost after four years after the complaint was filed.