Mumbai: A special POCSO court has convicted and sentenced a 35-year-old man to three years’ rigorous imprisonment for inappropriately touching a 14-year-old boy waiting at Kurla bus stop and propositioning him in 2018.Special judge P N Rao, in his verdict issued this week, found the boy’s deposition “reliable, trustworthy and inspiring confidence”, noting that the accused, Anand Balu Jadhav, was caught on the spot by the police immediately after the incident. “It was held in various decisions of the.. apex court that sole testimony of the victim would be sufficient in a case under the POCSO Act to establish the offence. Admittedly, such sole testimony of the victim is always to be accepted as authentic proof of the incident narrated by him,” the judge said.The judge concluded that the accused had sexual intent when placing his hand on the boy’s chest and uttering the explicit words, thereby finding Jadhav guilty of offences under Sections 8 (punishment for sexual assault) and 12 (punishment for sexual harassment) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.A set-off was granted for the period of detention already undergone by Jadhav during the trial, which amounted to 11 months and 13 days. The judge also said that the matter be referred to the District Legal Services Authority for appropriate victim compensation.The prosecution, presented by special public prosecutor Geeta Sharma, successfully established the charges through the testimony of eight witnesses, including the teenager, his mother, and police and school officials. The boy’s age was conclusively proven to be 14 years on the date of the incident through school records and the deposition of his head mistress and principal.The prosecution’s case was that in the early hours of Nov 3, 2018, the boy, then 14 years old, was waiting for a bus when Jadhav approached him near a public urinal behind the bus stop, offered him money and uttered explicit words. The frightened boy ran towards the nearby police chowky, with the accused following him. Police personnel nabbed Jadhav and took him to Kurla police station. The boy then contacted his mother, who filed a complaint at Kurla police station. A case was registered and Jadhav was arrested.
