Man sentenced to 20 years in jail for sexually abusing child

The accused was found guilty under sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

According to the prosecution, in 2020, the six-year-old child was forcibly kidnapped by the accused, when he was visiting the public washroom near his house. When the boy did not return home for over 30 minutes, his grandmother began looking for him. She began calling out his name, and heard him calling out, “daadi, daadi”.

She followed the voice and found it coming from near a tamarind tree in the neighbourhood. She traced the voice to be coming out of the house of the accused. She entered the home and saw her grandson at the house.

According to special public prosecutor Geeta Malankar, during the trial, the grandmother and the child both deposed about the incident.

The court also relied on the medical evidence to convict the accused, which showed the injuries caused to the child.

While the accused had claimed that he was falsely implicated over a past dispute with the victim’s family, the court said that no such proof was given.

The court also denied that there was any delay in filing of the FIR.

“There is no delay in lodging the report. In fact, the accused was immediately caught on spot as soon as the grandmother of the victim reached the spot and raised an alarm,” special judge Ashwini Lokhande said in the order passed on June 13.

The court also said adequate compensation be given to the victim as per the government scheme.

The accused was behind bars since his arrest in 2020 and court directed that this period be set off against the 20 year punishment given to him.