Summary:
When the concerned deputy commissioner of police took up his complaint for an inquiry, the accused failed to appear despite summoned twice. This showed his complaining nature and behaviour to harass people, the court said. “On careful examination of the evidence, the prosecution has proved its case that the accused was sexually harassing the victim and her mother since 2012 onwards,” the court held and observed that the defence taken by the accused was not sufficient to create doubt over the evidence recorded by the girl and her mother and the prosection’s case. PUNE: A sessions court on Monday convicted and sentenced a 67-year-old man — to three years of rigorous imprisonment — for molesting a 16-year-old girl in the elevator of their housing society in Kothrud in October 2015.Additional sessions judge Subhash K Karhale relied on a 2011 judgement by the Bombay high court and held that the old age of the accused cannot earn him immunity from a substantive sentence. “After the sentencing, the court allowed the convict’s plea for bail to enable him to move an appeal in the Bombay high court,” additional public prosecutor Rajesh Kavediya told TOI.Judge Karhale found the accused guilty for offences under Sections 354-A (sexual assault) and 354-D (stalking) of the Indian Penal Code besides offences under Sections 8 (sexual assault) and 12 (sexual harassment) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act..