79-year-old man gets 10 years' jail for raping minor girl

Mumbai: A special Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court on Thursday sentenced a 79-year-old man to 10 years of imprisonment for raping a girl in his neighbourhood, who is 70 years younger to him.

The special judge Nandkishore L. More held that the prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt that Allauddin Sayyed raped the minor girl.

The prosecution case is that on April 12, 2016, the mother of the victim (then 6-years-old) heard her cries from the house of the accused and found her there. Later, the victim told her parents that the accused had taken her inside his house removed her clothes and sexually assaulted her. Following this, the victim’s mother lodged the complaint at Trombay police station and then the police had arrested Sayyed.

However, Sayyed’s lawyer had contended that the accused has been falsely implicated in the case. He had relied upon the medical report and claimed that there was no evidence of injuries suggestive of application of force against the victim.

However, the court relied upon the same report, which evaluated that the victim was subjected to sexual abuse within 12 hours from the examination of the victim. The court also relied upon the victim’s statement recorded under section 164 CrPC, which could be used as evidence in the court of law. In her testimony before the court, the victim stood by her statement.

The court on Thursday held the accused guilty of sexual abuse and sentenced him to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment.