Ahmedabad: A special Pocso court sentenced a 51-year-old man to 20 years in prison after holding him guilty of digital rape and sexual harassment of a six-year-old girl. Digital rape refers to a form of sexual assault involving the non-consensual insertion of fingers or other objects into the victim’s body. Hasan Shaikh was accused of repetitive penetrative sexual assault on the girl. The victim’s parents lodged an FIR in Oct 2024. Shaikh was booked under BNS and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (Pocso).After the prosecution examined 13 witnesses and presented an equal number of documents at trial to establish Shaikh’s guilt, he maintained his innocence and insisted he was falsely implicated.Even after Shaikh was found guilty of the offence, his lawyer sought leniency, arguing that he was innocent and had been framed. However, the court said, “Considering the aggravating and mitigating circumstances and seriousness of the offence, it is the duty of the court to award proper and adequate sentence.”While sentencing the accused to 20 years in jail, the court imposed a fine of Rs 55,000 on him. Of this amount, the court ordered Rs 45,000 be paid to the victim. Besides, the court also ordered payment of Rs 5.5 lakh to the victim under the victim compensation scheme.
