A Maharashtra court has sentenced a 37-year-old man to three years' rigorous imprisonment for molesting a minor girl.
Special POSCO court judge G P Shirsat in his order on Tuesday also imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 on the accused.
On March 7, 2016, when the 10-year-old girl was participating in a kabaddi match at Kalher village in Bhiwandi tehsil, the accused, a resident of the same village, called her to an isolated place near the match venue and touched her inappropriately, the prosecution told the court.
The girl informed about the incident to her parents who searched for the accused but could not trace him.
A couple of days later, the accused again molested the girl when she visited a temple in the village. She informed her parents who caught hold of the man and handed him to police.
While the accused's counsel prayed for leniency as he was the only earning member in his family, the prosecution demanded that he should be awarded stringent punishment for the offence.
After hearing both the sides, the judge pronounced the accused guilty under Indian Penal Code Section 354 (assault or criminal force on a woman with an intent to outrage her modesty) and relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
It was necessary to award a strict punishment to the accused along with the fine, the judge said in his order.
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