Thane, Feb 18 A court in Thane has acquitted a 32 year old man accused of sexually assaulting a minor girl, observing that the case appeared to arise from a personal dispute with the victim’s mother over a marriage proposal.
Special POCSO Court Judge D S Deshmukh, in the judgment on February 13, noted the accused and the victim's mother were in a relationship, and when he refused to marry her, a quarrel ensued.
The possibility of the victim being tutored could not be ruled out, and her testimony did not inspire confidence to establish sexual assault, it said.
According to the prosecution, the incident occurred on August 11, 2019, when the 10-year-old victim and her mother were returning from a market in the Mumbra area of Maharashtra's Thane district.
The accused, Mohammad Nashir Rain, a local tea seller, hugged the child from behind and made obscene advances. When the mother intervened, the accused assaulted her, resulting in a fracture, the prosecution alleged.
The accused was charged under provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
