Over five years after a 10-year-old girl accused a piano teacher of Delhi School of Music of molestation,a city court pronounced him guilty on Wednesday. Metropolitan Magistrate Geetanjali Goel convicted Dilip Soloman under Section 354 (assault or criminal force on a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and Section 509 (word,gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman). Soloman,in his 50s,faces a maximum jail term of two years along with monetary penalty. The quantum of punishment will be pronounced on October 31. The girl,a student in Delhi School of Music,had been learning piano for four years. Since January 2004,Soloman had started conducting her classes. According to the prosecution,on two separate occasions February 27,2004 and March 19,2004 Soloman molested the child during the lessons. Scared,the girl told her mother about it and the parents lodged an FIR at Chanakyapuri police station. An in-house inquiry conducted by the music school reportedly went in favour of the accused. The family then moved the Delhi High Court,which ordered a re-investigation. During the hearing,the child testified against the accused. Soloman pleaded innocence. Under the supervision of the Delhi High Court,special public prosecutor S K Dass had led the trial.
