Ghaziabad: A special Pocso court sentenced a 22-year-old man to 20 years in jail for sexually assaulting a 6-year-old girl three years ago. The accused had lured a girl from his neighbourhood away to assault her, but was caught by her mother in the act.Additional sessions Judge Poonam-II said the accused committed aggravated penetrative sexual assault on a girl, approximately 6 years old. “This type of act creates a feeling of insecurity among the people living in the neighbourhood, which in turn increases the feeling of distrust even towards neighbours in society. Therefore, considering all the facts and circumstances of the case and the accused’s social and economic status, he deserves to be punished with 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine under Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012,” the judge said.An FIR was registered against the accused and his mother with Ankur Vihar police station on Nov 6, 2023. The complainant, the girl’s mother, claimed other kids in the neighbourhood told her the accused had lured her daughter away. When she went searching for her at the accused’s home, she found her daughter screaming for help while the room was locked from inside. The accused fled, and his mother later misbehaved with the girl’s mother, the complainant said.Charges were framed against the accused and his mother on March 1, 2024. The two denied charges and sought a trial. Prosecution presented six witnesses, including the complainant and her daughter, while defence came up with two witnesses.Special public prosecutor Satish Kumar Sharma argued that the incident was proven beyond doubt by the statement of the minor, which was corroborated by her mother, while the defence questioned the absence of a medical report and deliberate refusal of internal examination of the girl by the complainant.Having heard both sides, the court concluded that the girl’s statements about the events of the incident bear a clear consistency.“In her cross-examination, the girl stated that the accused threatened and drove away her friends and dragged her into a room. The accused and her mother had a fight, which occurred after the accused’s assault on her. She stated that she went to the police station the same night after the incident and that she was not injured. There were no material contradictions in the girl’s cross-examination regarding the incident that would impact the credibility of her testimony,” the court held.It added that a medical report is not mandatory for conviction in cases of sexual assault and commissioning of rape is a legal definition and not a medical definition. Based on the observation, the court decided to rule in favour of the prosecution and declared the accused guilty of aggravated penetrative sexual assault of the minor while acquitting him and his mother of charges of intentional insult to breach of peace.
