22-year-old awarded 20 years RI under POCSO Act

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

The special sessions judge A S Vairagade has awarded 20 years rigorous imprisonment (RI) to an accused Lakhan Bhikan Narwade (22) for sexually exploiting a minor girl and threatening her with dire consequences if she informs anybody about the crime. The court also slapped a fine of Rs 21,000 upon him under different sections.

According to the complaint made by the minor girl (age 13 years and eight months), they are native of a village in Buldhana and had shifted to the city for work. Her parents earn their livelihood by working as labourers. The victim, however, was studying in the village and was staying with her grandmother. Two months before the incident, she had come to meet her parents in the city. They stay on the third floor and the accused stays on the ground floor of the same building as tenants.

It so happened that on June 20, 2022, the parents of the victim had gone out of the house for work, while her 10 year-old brother went out of the house to play at around 12 noon. Taking advantage of this, Lakhan came on the third floor and told the victim that her brother was calling her downstairs. However, the victim did not come out of the house. Later, Lakhan entered the house and forcibly pulled the girl till the bathroom situated at the ground floor and forcibly exploited her. After commiting crime, he also threatened her of dire consequences if she tells anybody about the incident and left the room. On the second day, on June 21, the victim narrated the incident to her mother and both of them then went and informed Lakhan’s mother. Later on, the victim reached Jawaharnagar Police Station to lodge the complaint.

PSI Shivaji Ghorpade, after investigating the case, filed a chargesheet in the court. The assistant public prosecutor B R Loya recorded the statements of eight witnesses in the case during the hearing. The statements of the victim, her mother, medical officer and investigating officer proved important in the case. The court after finding Lakhan Narwade guilty awarded 20 years RI to him under Section 4 (2) of POCSO Act for sexually exploiting a minor girl. The accused was also fined Rs 20,000 in the same section. The court also sentenced one year RI and slapped a fine of Rs 1,000 on the accused for threatening the victim of dire consequences.