Pocso court refuses bail to man who posed as woman on social media, befriended a minor in Mumbai and sexually assaulted her

The special court under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, 2012 has refused to grant bail to a 23-year-old man booked for sexually abusing

The special court under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, 2012 has refused to grant bail to a 23-year-old man booked for sexually abusing a minor girl for the past two years. The court considered that the man had eight other cases pending against him. It is alleged that the accused Kuldeep also known as Krushna Amrutlal Joshi came in contact with the survivor in 2017 through a social media site wherein he posed as a woman. Through the social media account, he started chatting with her and befriended her.

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Later Joshi allegedly met her the survivor at her tuition classes and gave her a chocolate. After having the chocolate she became unconscious. When she woke up she found herself in a room, without clothes. Thereafter he blackmailed and exploited the minor for two years.

The man lastly took her to Ahmedabad after which her father lodged a complaint with Ghatkopar police for kidnapping and sexually abusing his minor daughter. The accused was traced and arrested on August 29. A month later on September 25, he filed a bail plea claiming he was falsely implicated in the case.

Joshi claimed that the girl had accompanied him on her own. He claimed that the girl never complained during her travel to Ahmedabad with him.

The plea was opposed by the victim’s family claiming there are many cases of theft registered against him. The prosecution had said that he is booked in at least eight more cases of several kinds.

The court after hearing the application observed, “The accused has started contact with the victim by concealing his identity and posing himself to be a girl. Here, the investigation is at the initial stage. There are allegations that the girl has been ravished since last two years and yet the statements are to be recorded as well as there is every possibility of the victim getting scared seeing the accused immediately after the commission of the offence.”