A special court here has handed a three-year imprisonment to a 50-year-old man for touching a minor girl inappropriately and calling her “hot”, noting that the act shows the accused intended to commit sexual assault.
The special POCSO court judge, S C Jadhav, convicted the accused on December 14 under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for stalking and molestation as well as under the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
A detailed order became available on Saturday.
The case dates back to May 24, 2016, when the victim was 13 years old.
From the perusal of the overall testimony of the victim and prosecution witness, it is proved that on May 24, 2016, the victim was standing near a mosque with her friend, when the accused touched her at an inappropriate place, the court said.
The man further uttered words that she looked “very hot” and that he wanted to kiss her on her cheeks and felt like taking her with him, it said.
“Touching the girl inappropriately and uttering such words itself suggests that the accused had committed the act with no other reason, but only with the sexual intent to commit sexual assault”, the court noted.
The court further held that it was also proved that the accused used to stalk the girl and thereby sexually harassed her.
