Mumbai: A Prevention of Child from Sexual Offence (POCSO) court has awarded a three-year jail term to a 23-year-old man for having allegedly outraged the modesty of a 16-year-old school girl and threatening to kill her thereafter if she ‘refused to marry him’ in Ghatkopar in 2015.
While pronouncing the sentence, the court said, “Nowadays, incidents of stalking, outraging the modesty of women by roadside Romeos like the accused, like grabbing their hand as well as threats to minors, compelling them to accept their advances, are increasing everyday. If the said incidents are ignored, in future, it may turn into a more serious and heinous offence. So, it is necessary to report such incidents immediately.”
According to the prosecution, the accused, Pravin Prakash Panchras, a resident of Ramabai colony, had on the evening of August 10, 2015 targeted the minor, when she was returning home from college. At around 5.15 pm, the girl was passing through a subway when Panchras held her hand and asked her to ‘love’ him. When the girl resisted, he abused and assaulted her. He also threatened to kill the girl if she did not marry him. Fortunately, the victim’s maternal aunt, who was vegetables in the market, witnessed the entire incident. c
The girl, along with her aunt and mother visited Panchras’ house and complained to his father, but he did not pay heed to them. The girl’s family registered an FIR against the accused in Pant Nagar police station under charges of outraging a woman’s modesty, threatening to kill her as well as various sections of the POCSO act.
The prosecution has examined four witnesses including the victim. The accused argued that the girl was deliberately implicating him in the crime because of family rivalry.
While rejecting the claims of the accused, the court said, “There is no reason for the victim as well as her parents to falsely implicate accused in the present case. In the case of sexual assault, it is not easy for the victim or their parents to come forward and report alleged incidents as ultimately it is going to affect the reputation of victim also.” It further said, “No parents will dare to lodge a false case against any person to involve their daughter in such a case.”
