Man gets 5 years in jail for sexual assault on minor

A POCSO court here has convicted a man for sexually assaulting a minor girl during a function in Navi Mumbai and sentenced him to five years in jail.

Special Judge (POCSO Act) SB Bahalkar, in her order on Friday, also fined Raju Buddhuram Yadav alias Biru Chokha Rs 25,000 for the crime committed on April 23, 2016, Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) Varsha Chandane said.

"Yadav was one of the catering staff at the marriage anniversary function of a relative of the victim. When she went to the kitchen to get something, he touched her inappropriately. After she told her parents about the incident, they approached the police," the APP said.

The police filed a case under IPC section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and the relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Chandane said.

The judge dismissed Yadav's contention that he was falsely implicated in the case due to a dispute in food bills between his catering firm employer and the victim's parents, the APP said.