POCSO court in Thane sentences man to life imprisonment for gang rape of teenager

A special court in Maharashtras Thane district has sentenced a man to imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life after convicting him in a case of gang rape under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences POCSO Act reported news agency PTIIn his order on Thursday Additional Sessions and Special Judge POCSO N K Karande in Bhiwandi also imposed a fine of Rs 5000 on the 25yearold convict Sagar Janu Dhangate a resident of neighbouring Palghar district reported PTIThe case involves three other accused who were juveniles at the time of the crime That matter is currently being heard before the Juvenile Justice CourtAccording to Special Public Prosecutor Vijay B Munde Dhangate and three minors raped a 17yearold girl when she was returning home after fetching water from a river on January 18 2019 reported PTIThe girl then a student of an Ashram school had gone to her family in Palghar district to assist them with ration purchases when she was sexually assaulted After learning about the crime her mother approached the police reported PTINine prosecution witnesses including the survivor were examined in the POCSO court which held that the prosecution had successfully proved the grave charges of gang rape and POCSO against the adult accusedThe court then handed a life sentence to the accused DhangateMan gets 3 months jail for sexually harassing minor in local trainIn another case a special court has sentenced a 27yearold man to three months of imprisonment for sexually harassing a minor on board a local train noting that travelling in the general compartment does not justify any male passenger repeatedly touching a woman reported PTISpecial judge Neeta Anekar passed the order on November 1 holding the accused guilty of the offences committed under Indian Penal Code IPC section 354D stalking as well as relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences POCSO Act reported PTIThe court sentenced him to three months of jail but granted a setoff for the period under detention during the trial from January 4 2019 to April 15 2019As per the prosecution the 17yearold victim claimed that the accused had been chasing her for about a year He would repeatedly board the same train compartment she used for her college commute from Borivali to Vile Parle reported PTIThe specific incident on January 4 2019 occurred when the victim was travelling with her elder brother the prosecution saidThe victim and her brother boarded the Borivali slow local at Vile Parle station around 6 pmThe accused also boarded the same train and stood near her When the train reached Andheri station the accused came close to the victim started pushing her and repeatedly touched her thigh The victim signalled her brother who witnessed the incident and caught the accused reported PTIThe accused was then taken to the police station with the help of police officials at Borivali stationThe court accepted the testimony of the victim and her brother noting that the victims account of being followed and touched was reliableThe defence had challenged the victims testimony on the ground he has a firstclass pass and hence there was no reason for her to travel in second class during peak rush hourThe court stressed that secondclass compartments in a city like Mumbai are extremely crowded during such timesHowever the fact that the victim was travelling in a secondclass compartment despite having a firstclass pass is not sufficient to discredit her testimony the court said reported PTIThe special judge pointed out that during the crossexamination it was told that her college friends often traveled with her and they typically used the secondclass compartmentIt is entirely plausible that the victim chose to travel with her friends in the secondclass compartment the court notedWhile it is true that the compartment in question was not reserved for women passengers this does not justify any male passenger repeatedly touching a female passenger it added reported PTIWith inputs from PTI