Mumbai man molested three minors who played with sons, convicted

According to the prosecution, he would call the girls to his house, lock the door and then molest them.

The special court for the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) on Wednesday convicted a serial molester – Santosh Rahate, 40 — in three cases of molesting minors in his neighbourhood.

he court also noted that there are three cases against him, where the victims being minors were not even aware about the act they were being subjected to. (HT File/Representational Image)

Rahate was booked in four cases by the Santacruz police for sexually abusing minor girls, who came to play with his sons. In one of the four cases registered at Santacruz police station, he was booked for raping a 12-year-old girl. The court, however, acquitted him from the rape case as the victim did not support prosecution case.

In three cases, special judge Rekha Pandhare held him guilty for sexually abusing girls. Rahate, however, pleaded that he had been falsely implicated and has never abused girls.

According to the prosecution, he would call the girls to his house, lock the door and then molest them.

Public prosecutor Jyosti Sawant assisted by Shashikant Shinde from Santacruz police station said that he is booked for more than one case and is a habitual offender. The court while sentencing Rahate observed, “This is a heinous crime, where the victims used to call him mama (maternal uncle). They were all minors, who came to play with his kids near his house. He would call them in the house and lock the door. He would then ask them to sit on his lap and molest them.”

The court also noted that there are three cases against him, where the victims being minors were not even aware about the act they were being subjected to.

He would call the girls at his residence to play with his two kids. The girls around 11 to 12 years of the age would go to his house, where he would molest them.

In the deposition, one of the girls claimed that when she asked him to leave her, Rahate threatened her saying that he would kill her mother if she went and told anyone about the incident. The defense lawyer Anjali Patil had examined Rahate’s wife Prajakta as a defense witness.

Prajakta claimed that her husband was being falsely implicated by the family members of victims over a fight at their chawl.