POCSO court acquits Cuffe Parade resident in stalking, harassment case

Special court acquits man of stalking and harassment charges due to lack of evidence in Mumbai POCSO case involving a minor girl.

Mumbai: A special court designated under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) acquitted a 31-year-old Cuffe Parade resident of stalking and harassment charges due to lack of evidence. The judge observed that the sole testimony of the victim could not be relied upon to prove the charges against the man.

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Yasin Nisar Shaikh was arrested in 2016 after a minor girl filed a complaint that he stalked her and threatened to throw acid on her face. According to the prosecution, Yasin used to follow the victim, who was in Class 9.

As per the prosecution, the victim was threatened by Yasin when she went to her house owner’s residence in Mazgaon. Following that, the landowner, who is one of the witnesses in the case, called up the minor’s mother and then a police complaint was filed against Yasin.

The prosecution, represented by special public prosecutor Jyoti Sawant, relied upon the evidence of the three witnesses, the victim, the landowner, and the investigating officer, Sahebrao Malhari Kharat.

Shaikh’s advocate Sunil Pandey submitted that the victim and Shaikh knew each other for the past four years. Further, he added that Shaikh resides near her house, which makes his presence valid.

The special POCSO court, judge Kalpana K Patil, called the victim’s statement ‘vague’, since she was unable to state the “exact day or date on which the incidents happened and exact place where it happened.” The court questioned why the victim took four hours to reach her owner’s place in Mazgaon. In addition, the court noted that the landowner’s statement was not enough to prove the act of outraging modesty, which is one of the charges against Sheikh.

Thus, the court said that the prosecution was unable to prove that Shaikh assaulted the victim with the intention to ‘outrage modesty’. Questioning why the victims’ friends’ statements were not taken on record as the primary witnesses, the court said that her sole testimony could not be used to prove POCSO charges.

Thus, over the failure to corroborate the statement of the landowner with the victim and the investigating police officer, the court acquitted Shaikh and disposed of the plea. The Colaba police had registered a case against Shaikh under various sections of IPC, including stalking, outraging modesty, and criminal intimidation, along with the POCSO act.