The Thane Sessions court has convicted a 39-year-old Mumbra resident on the charges of raping a seven-year-old child, who had come to play with the accused’s child at his house. The court has sentenced him to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs10,000. While delivering the judgment, the court observed that the punishment should be commensurate with the act of sexual assault and send a clear message to society at large that perpetrators in such cases are, and will be, dealt with an iron hand.
The court, in its order, stated: “The POCSO Act, 2012, has been enacted to protect children from offences of sexual assault and sexual harassment, in line with the provisions of Sections 15 and 39 of the Constitution. The act of sexual assault on a child must be viewed seriously, and such offences must be dealt with stringently.
“In this case, the accused, aged 39, took the victim into the kitchen and committed a heinous act on her. The accused, being the victim’s neighbour, took advantage of the fact that she went to his house to play with his son. He took her into the kitchen and committed aggravated sexual assault, which demonstrates his mindset and mental state. Instead of showing fatherly love, and affection, and protecting the child from the evils of society, he made her the victim of his lust.”
The prosecution’s case dates back to December 2021, when the victim complained to the mother of the accused about Zuber Ahmad Rehamatullah Shaikh alias Tavakkal being a dirty person and that he had committed some bad things to her. These revelations were made when the child’s mother was asking her to go and play with the neighbourhood child, who was as old as the victim.
Rather the child started crying and asking her mother to shift their house as Zuber was a bad person. Therefore, she got suspicious, and accordingly, she took the victim in confidence and made enquiry with her. At that time, the victim disclosed that when she went to the house of the accused, he gave toys to his children and the victim in his bedroom.
Later. he caught hold of her and sexually assaulted her and also raped her. This incident occurred more than twice. Accordingly, the victim’s mother approached the police station and filed a complaint against the accused.
