Mumbai, Oct 25: A POCSO court in Mumbai on Monday sentenced a man to 1.5 years for addressing a girl as ‘item’. The case dates back to 2015.
In his ruling, judge SJ Ansari observed that referring to a girl as an item ‘reflects the sexual intent’ of the accused.
The incident occurred when the 16-year-old victim was walking to school. The 25-year-old businessman pulled her by the hair asking “Kya item kidhar ja rahi ho?” (Hey item where are you headed to?)
The court also observed that the man followed the victim for a month with sexual intent. He refused to consider the accused’s argument that he was falsely implicated by the victim’s parents. The man said that the victim’s parents were against their friendship.
It is to be noted that the victim stated to the POCSO court only in July this year. Narrating her ordeal to the court, the victim said that on July 14, 2015, at about 1:30pm when she was on her way to school, the accused was sitting in the lane from where she was proceeding.
The accused came behind her, pulled her hair, and uttered the words. The victim pushed him asking him to stay away. The accused threatened the victim that he could do anything he wanted to. The girl then dialed 100, the accused fled the spot before the police arrived.
–Agencies