Elderly couple get 10 years’ RI for sexual assault of 4-year-old

Elderly couple get 10 years’ RI for sexual assault of 4-year-old

Rebecca.Samervel@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:11.03.2021 

In a rare instance, a now 81-year-old woman and her 87-year-old husband were found guilty of the 2013 sexually assault of their 4-year-old neighbour and sentenced to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment. This is probably thefirst case in the city where a woman has been found guilty for such a crime under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. The special Pocso court relied on testimonies of the child and her mother, and medical evidence.

Special judge Rekha N Pandhare ordered the accused to pay Rs50,000 each to the child as compensation within a month. The court observed that the victim being a child and the accused being of the age of her grandparents, were supposed to take care of her. Instead, they sexually assaulted her, the court ruled.

In the trial by special public prosecutors Veena Shelar and Geeta Nayyar, seven witnesses deposed. The child was eight at the time of deposition.

In a statement to police, the child said she returned from school at 10am on September 4, 2013. She had something to eat, watched cartoons on TV and at noon went to the fourth floor of her building to play with a friend. The child said that as her friend was sleeping, she decided to return home. She said at that time, the accused, whom she referred to as ‘dada’ and ‘daadi’ (grandfather and grandmother), called out to her.

The child said when she went to the man, he carried her and took her into the house. He made her sit on the swing but he slapped her when she tried to leave. The child alleged that while the woman held her, the man undressed her and sexually assaulted her. The woman repeated the act. She said once again, when she tried to run, the man spat on her face. The child said she got afraid and after the accused let her go, she dressed up and ran home.

The child’s mother had told police that after she returned from work and finished household chores, at10pm she tried to put the child to bed. The mother said the child said she wanted to tell her something and pleaded with her not to scold her. After the mother assured the child, she confided in her about the incident. The mother said she checked the child’s private parts and found inflammation. The mother informed the father and complained to police. The accused was arrested the next day.

Father of two sets 16-year-old girl on fire for rejecting his advances

Raipur:

A married man with two children, who was stalking a minor girl for months, allegedly set her on fire in the early hours of Thursday after she spurned his advances.

He also got burnt when she fought back, engulfed in flames. He managed to flee the spot, but was arrested within hours. Now, both of them are in hospital with severe burns.

The incident took place in a residential locality on the outskirts of Raipur. The accused, Karan Porte, broke into the house of a 16-year-old girl, and poured kerosene on her while she slept, say police. Despite being ablaze, the teenager grappled with him, burning him in the process. Injured, Porte ran out of the house before the girl’s family members could understand what was going on. They doused the fire but by then she had suffered 50% burns. She was taken to hospital where she is in a critical condition.

Police traced Porte through his mobile phone location and arrested him. He has suffered 25% burns and was admitted to hospital, say sources. The girl’s parents said they had repeatedly warned him not to harass her but he persisted, say police. Preliminary probe indicates he tried one last time to force her into ‘marriage’ on Wednesday evening, and decided to kill her when she refused, say police. TNN