22 July,2026 08:23 PM IST | Thane | mid-day online correspondent
The dentist was booked under Section 354-A(1)(i) (sexual harassment) of IPC and Section 8 (sexual assault) of POCSO Act. Representational pic
A special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act court in Thane has acquitted a 32-year-old dentist accused of sexually assaulting a minor at his clinic in 2023, observing that there was "absolutely no evidence" linking him to the alleged offence after the victim and her mother turned hostile during the trial, news agency PTI reported.
Special Judge (POCSO Act) and Additional Sessions Judge Premal Vithalani passed the order on Tuesday. A copy of the judgment became available on Wednesday.
According to the prosecution, the alleged incident took place on December 25, 2023, when the survivor, then aged 15, visited the accused's dental clinic in Mumbra with her younger sister for treatment of a toothache.
A first information report (FIR) was subsequently registered against the dentist under Section 354-A(1)(i) (sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 8 (sexual assault) of POCSO Act.
However, during the trial, both the survivor and her mother did not support the prosecution's case.
The survivor's mother denied that she was informed on the phone that the accused touched her inappropriately, the court observed.
"Even the victim has not supported the prosecution's case. She has deposed that on the date of the incident, she and her younger sister had been to the dental clinic of the accused, where she was treated for a toothache. She deposed that no incident had occurred in the clinic of the accused," the court said.
The judge further observed that the testimony of the police officer, in whose presence the girl's statement was recorded, could not establish the accused's guilt in light of her denial.
"Thus, on record, there is absolutely no evidence connecting the accused with the said offence," the court stated while acquitting the dentist.
Police have arrested an absconding head priest of a religious ashram in Maharashtra's Amravati district who was booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and charged with rape, officials said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Dattagiri Guru Jairamji Maharaj of Anand Math, was arrested on Tuesday after the Chandur Railway Police registered a case against him on Sunday under Sections 64(2) (rape) and 351(2) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS). Various provisions of the POCSO Act were also invoked, an official said.
He was produced before an Amravati court, which remanded him to judicial custody.
According to the FIR, the survivor alleged that she first met Jairamji Maharaj during an event in 2014 and had been living with him since 2016, when she was a minor.
She further alleged that the accused raped and sexually exploited her over the years, the official said, adding that further investigation is underway.
(With PTI inputs)
