Three get life in jail for drugging, sexually abusing 16-year-old in Mumbai

According to the prosecution, the girl was abused by five people, of which two were minors. The minor’s cases were dealt with separately.

Three men were sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday for sexually abusing a 16-year-old girl after forcibly drugging her in 2013. The accused were found guilty by Dindoshi special court under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Three men were sentenced to life imprisonment for drugging a teenager in Mumbai. (HT FILE)

The special judge HC Shende criticised the defence’s argument, questioning the character of the girl because she had been to Goa with her friends. “I disagree with such arguments. This kind of mentality gives people the liberty to sexually abuse women just because she is in a consensual relationship with somebody, prior to getting married. I am of the view that even a prostitute cannot be raped,” the court observed.

According to the prosecution, the girl was abused by five people, of which two were minors. The minor’s cases were dealt with separately. The prosecution claimed that the girl was known to the group as they lived nearby.

The court refused to be lenient with the three accused while observing that some of them were the girl’s close friends and took advantage of her faith. The prosecution had also pointed out that the three accused had criminal backgrounds. “I am of the opinion that showing leniency to the three accused would be an insult to the victim, who took the courage to come ahead to lodge a complaint against them,” the judge observed.

The court also reprimanded the police for their lethargic approach in registering a first information report (FIR) in the case. The survivor had approached the police the same night the incident took place. However, an FIR was registered two days later. According to the prosecution, on November 1, 2013, the girl had gone to meet her boyfriend, who was also a minor. Her boyfriend and one of his friends, also a minor, met the survivor near Mhada bridge in Dindoshi. Soon, another friend, a minor, came there with beer bottles. Soon after, the three accused reached the spot and started beating the survivor’s boyfriend. When the girl tried to escape, they stopped her and took her under the bridge. The accused made her drink alcohol and also allegedly put a small tablet in her mouth. The victim claimed that the five, including the two minors, sexually abused her. They had also beaten her lover. The accused, the girl said, then put her in an autorickshaw and went to a liquor shop to buy more alcohol. Taking advantage of the situation, the girl managed to escape. She then told her family about the incident. She, along with her brother, approached the police the same night. However, an FIR was registered on November 3, 2013.

“It is self-suggesting that till today, the police is not taking sexual offences complaints seriously. The Apex Court had directed them to differentiate between regular crimes and crimes involving sexual assault on women,” reads the order passed by the court.