No safe place for children of working parents: Pocso court

A special Pocso (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) court on Thursday expressed concern about safety of children who have to stay alone at home while both parents go for work

A special Pocso (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) court on Thursday expressed concern about safety of children who have to stay alone at home while both parents go for work. The observation came while the court was sentencing a 40-year-old electrician for sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl who was alone at home while her parents were out for work.

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While convicting the electrician, special judge Bharti Kale said, “In many cases such incidents are noticed when the children are required to stay alone at home as parents need to work, and there is no safe place for the children to stay in their absence.”

“In the present case, the survivor was also subjected to penetrative sexual assault by the accused, who was known to her, when she was alone,” the judge observed and sentenced the electrician to 10 years of imprisonment.

As per the case registered with RCF police station, in March 2018, the school teacher of the Class 4 student called her parents to school and told them about the sexual abuse faced by the minor. The girl had narrated the ordeal to her friends, which eventually reached the teacher.

In her deposition before the court, the minor referred the accused as “mama” and claimed that he would visit to their house often, even in the presence of her mother. The accused would tell her that her mother has asked him to look after her in their absence. The girl claimed that in early 2018, the accused came to her house in the absence of her parents and molested her.

The parents, in March 2018, registered a complaint against the accused with RCF police station. The girl was taken for medical examination where she claimed that accused had committed sexual assault on her. The accused was subsequently arrested on March 25, 2018 and has been in prison since.

Public prosecutor Geeta Sharma examined four witnesses including the minor and her mother as key witnesses. The court heavily relied on the statement given by minor before the court. The court held that “the prosecution has been able to bring cogent evidence on record that the accused has committed penetrative sexual assault upon the victim”.

The defence, however, had claimed that he was falsely implicated by the minor’s family as there were strained relations between him and the girl’s mother. The court did not accept the same and convicted the accused.