Karate trainer gets four years jail term for sexually abusing minor

A special Pocso court has sentenced 47-year-old karate trainer to four years imprisonment for sexually abusing 13-year-old in February 2015. The convict is also

A special Pocso court has sentenced 47-year-old karate trainer to four years imprisonment for sexually abusing 13-year-old in February 2015. The convict is also directed to pay a fine of ₹20,000 out of which ₹15,000 would be given to the victim as part of compensation.

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The defendant was held guilty after he contradicted his own versions about the incident and relation with the victim girl.

“The accused came up with a false and inconsistent defence before this court, which compels this court to draw an adverse inference against him, that he committed the offence alleged against him,” the court held while holding the teacher guilty of sexually abusing his student.

The convict, in his defence, gave contradictory stories. He earlier admitted that the victim was his student while the defence witness brought by him deposed that the victim and convict were not known to each other. At one place the convict claimed that there was no camp organised on the day of the incident, while at some other instance he admitted about the camp.

The court noted that while cross-examining the victim, the convict claimed that the victim was not his student, but later changed the statement and claimed that she did not attend the camp.

The court found that the witness brought by the convict, one of the students who attended the cam,p had deposed falsely to protect the convict.

As per the prosecution case, the defendant and the victim’s family knew each other for eight year and were in a cordial relation. The convict ran karate classes and the victim was one of his students.

On February 16, 2015, the convict asked the father of the victim to send her for a special karate camp which was organised by him at Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) in Borivli on February 17, 2015. Next day, the convict picked up the girl from the house for the camp early in the morning. The convict later took the victim to a secluded place inside the national park on his motorcycle, on the pretext of a long ride.

The victim, in her statement, alleged that he pulled the victim towards him and tried to forcefully hug her. The girl later messaged her father about it. The family later registered the case against the convict with Kasturba Marg police against the convict.