Court says girl can tell a stalker from passerby, gives man 2-yr RI

Court says girl can tell a stalker from passerby, gives man 2-yr RI

Rebecca.Samervel@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:26.09.2021

Observing that a girl is aware about who is following her and who is just a passerby, a Pocso court convicted and sentenced a 33-yearold man to two years’ rigorous imprisonment for stalking a 17-year-old girl on her way home from tuitions in 2019. Observing that sexually harassing minors when they are pursuing their education creates fear, judge Bharti Kale said leniency cannot be shown.

“The accused has not justified his reason for going after the victim every day. Therefore, the contention that he was not following the victim but only heading to work from the road in front of the victim’s building does not appear to be truthful,” said the court. The accused, Jamil Shaikh, was also fined Rs 5,000.

The minor refuted the defence’s argument that she was meeting her boyfriend in the building and when she was caught, she falsely implicated the accused. “Now, if the victim was meeting her boyfriend regularly and her parents grew suspicious, they would not have allowed her to go out of the house every day between 8.00pm and 9.30pm. Except bare suggestions that she was going to meet her boyfriend, there is nothing on record to prove the same,” the court said.

The prosecution, however, could not prove that the accused had held the girl’s hand just before he was nabbed. The court said the police has not recorded the statements of any independent witnesses from the spot even though the incident occurred at a public place.

Shaikh has been in jail since his arrest on November 26, 2019. The court said his sentence will be set off against time already spent in jail.

The accused has not justified his reason for going after the victim every day. Therefore, the contention that he was not following the victim but only heading to work from the road in front of the victim’s building does not appear to be truthful, the court said