Man accused of sexually assaulting minor girl in Thane acquitted after victim turned hostile

A court in Maharashtra’s Thane district has acquitted a 31-year-old man accused of sexually assaulting and molesting a minor girl in 2019 after the victim developed animosity with her mother.

POCSO Special Court Judge VV Virkar, in his order passed on February 4, held that the prosecution failed to prove the charges against the accused and the accused needed to be given an inference of innocence.

A copy of the order was provided on Sunday.

Prosecutors alleged that on November 17, 2019, the man living in Takupada, Kalwa District, Thane Province, sexually assaulted and molested a then 13-year-old girl living in the same area.

Prosecutors said the defendant had previously stalked the girl, made advances toward her and touched her inappropriately on multiple occasions.

The man was booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act.

However, defense lawyers challenged the allegations and told the court that all allegations against the defendants were false and baseless.

The judge’s order said the investigators’ testimony “cannot be said to be of any use to the prosecution as to the content of the complaint or the occurrence of the incident, which can only be said to be probative” based on the evidence of the prosecutor or the mother to whom she recounted the incident. . “

“But it is clear that the prosecutor and her mother did not support the prosecution’s allegations and became hostile, and there is no record to substantiate the allegations mentioned in the complaint,” she said.

Therefore, the court said that all the charges could not be proved against the accused and acquitted him of all the charges in the case.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from associated news agency – PTI)