Mason who raped co-worker’s 3-year-old daughter gets life term

A 28-year-old mason has been sentenced to life imprisonment for raping a 3-year-old girl at a construction site in Mumbai. The accused was apprehended after several witnesses saw him carrying the victim to the scene of the crime. The court rejected his plea for bail, deeming the offense serious and against a minor. He was booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the POCSO Act.

MUMBAI: Seven years after a 28-year-old mason, who raped his co-worker’s 3-year-old daughter at a construction site in Andheri, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday by a special Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court.

HT Image

According to the prosecution, a complaint was lodged against the accused, Pratap Sahu, on 8 September 2016 by the child’s mother. She informed the police that being a co-worker, Sahu, and the complainant shared cordial relations and worked together as masons at a construction site in Andheri.

However, on 7 September 2016, around 6pm, Sahu took away the 3-year-old girl without informing her mother. He carried the half-dressed child to the 9th floor of an under-construction building and raped her. The girl cried loudly, but the site being a deserted place, nobody could hear her.

When the mother realised that her daughter was missing, she searched the building but could not find her. She later found out from another worker that her daughter was lying on the 9th floor of a nearby under-construction building. She rushed to the spot and saw the child wailing in pain, and immediately approached the D N Nagar police station to lodge a complaint of kidnapping and rape of her daughter.

Since several workers at the site had noticed Sahu carrying the girl with him, he was apprehended and booked for kidnapping and raping. The prosecution examined a total of 13 witnesses, many of whom had noticed the accused carrying the half-naked victim to the spot of the incident to prove the case against the accused. The police also relied on forensic evidence, which supported the case against the accused.

Sahu had earlier prayed for bail in January 2022, however, the court rejected his plea. “The offence is serious and against a minor aged about three years. There is every possibility that the presence of the accused may not be secured as he is the permanent resident of Uttar Pradesh and may tamper with the prosecution witness if he is released on bail,” the court said.

The accused was booked under sections 376(2)(1) (sexual assault), 363 (kidnapping), 341 (wrongful restraint) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and sections 4 (penetrative sexual assault), 6 (sexual assault), 8 (sexual assault), 10 (aggravated sexual assault), 12 (sexual harassment) of the POCSO Act, 2012.