Thane, Apr 30 A court in Maharashtra's Thane district has acquitted a 23-year-old man, accused of sexually harassing and threatening his minor female cousin, as the victim and key prosecution witnesses failed to support the police case.
The order was passed on April 27 by special judge Premal S Vithalani, hearing cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. It was made available on Thursday.
The prosecution alleged that on November 18, 2018, the accused, who is a cousin of the victim, took the then 14-year-old girl in an auto-rickshaw, made sexual advances, and threatened to circulate her photographs on social media if she refused to marry him.
During the trial, the victim and her family members turned hostile.
The court noted that while the prosecution successfully proved the victim was a minor at the time of the incident through school records and birth certificates, it failed to prove the "foundational facts" of the alleged crime.
In the judgment, the court said, "The star witnesses namely victim, her cousin brother and her grandmother have not stated anything about the incident. Therefore, it cannot be said that the prosecution has succeeded in proving its case."
Referring to the testimony of the victim, the court said, "Even the victim has not supported the prosecution's case. She has specifically denied the incident. She denied that on the date of incident, accused took her in an auto-rickshaw, sexually harassed her by moving his hand on her breast, abused her and threatened her."
The court further highlighted that the victim's grandmother, who was the original informant, admitted during cross-examination that she was illiterate and had lodged the complaint based on what she was told, later stating that the accused had not even come to her house on the day of the incident.
The accused was facing charges under sections 354-A (1) (i) (sexual harassment), 504 (intentional insult), and 506-II (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act.
"In view of the discussion made above, the accused is required to be acquitted," the judge ruled.
