KOLKATA: A city court has sentenced a woman to two months of imprisonment for lodging a fake molestation case under the stringent Pocso Act at Phoolbagan police station in June. Jimutbahan Biswas, the additional district and sessions judge of the city court in Sealdah, passed the order last Tuesday after trial begun in the case and public prosecutor Lily Kumar pointed out that the charges seemed to have been concocted.The woman has also been fined Rs 5,000 and the original accused in the case — Sanjay Sharma , 44, a barber from Nawada in Bihar who has a barber shop close to Subhas Sarobar — has been released after being absolved of all charges.On June 5, an eight-year-old girl’s mother had alleged that the accused had inappropriately touched her child when she had come for a haircut. The accused was arrested and Phoolbagan police used the confidential statement of the mother to file a chargesheet. Sharma has been in jail all this time.On Tuesday, the woman was asked to testify. The girl reportedly informed the court that she had an itch on her shoulder and had asked the barber for help as the clipped hair was creating a problem. The judge asked the mother if what the girl was saying was true. The woman then told the court she had lodged the complaint as she was upset with Sharma over a past issue. The judge read out the woman’s confidential statement and asked her if she had said that. She agreed and the public prosecutor asked the court to take legal action against her for lodging a fake complaint. The court then proceeded to award the punishment. The woman has been taken to Presidency jail.Lawyers in Kolkata said the judgement was indeed a rare one. “I am aware of the punishment. It is something I have not heard of from the lower courts. The provisions are provided under Section 22 of the Pocso Act. However, such punishments are now getting more frequent in certain rape cases (IPC Section 376),” said Madhabi Ghosh, special PP who deals with Pocso cases. Another lawyer practising at the lower courts, a public prosecutor dealing with juvenile justice cases, stated that it was an important step. “No one can get away with lodging fake complaints,” he said.

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