Pune: A special Pocso court on Wednesday convicted a 31-year-old worker and sentenced him to three years of rigorous imprisonment under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act for stalking a 15-year-old girl and holding her hand despite her refusal, ruling that the act amounted to sexual assault.Special public prosecutor Nitin Konghe told TOI that the incident took place on Oct 28, 2015. The girl, then a Std X student, was returning home after her examination when the accused, who was acquainted with her and worked near her residence, called out to her and tried to engage her in conversation, he said.“When she ignored him and continued walking, he followed her, grabbed her hand and attempted to pull her. Her father arrived at the scene shortly thereafter, caught the accused and lodged a police complaint on the same day,” Konghe said.The accused denied the charges and claimed he had been falsely implicated, alleging a prior dispute with the girl’s father over splashing of water during two-wheeler washing work. The court of additional sessions judge (Pocso) Sulochana Sanjay Saste, however, observed that the defence failed to produce any evidence to support this claim.Addressing the absence of independent eyewitnesses, the court observed that it did not weaken the prosecution’s case when the victim’s testimony was found credible and trustworthy. The court noted that in sexual offence cases, perpetrators often acted swiftly and with calculated caution to avoid detection, even in public places — choosing moments of brief isolation, creating deceptive normalcy or exploiting crowded settings where individual actions may go unnoticed.“Therefore, the mere fact that the incident occurred in a public setting does not negate the possibility of the offence having been committed, nor does it diminish the evidentiary value of the victim’s testimony it found credible and trustworthy,” the court noted.While convicting the accused, the court emphasised that the victim was a schoolgoing minor and there was a clear age difference between her and the accused. “In spite of it, the accused not only followed the victim but caught hold her hand with a sexual intent. Due to said act, victim has suffered agony. Such type of offences with schoolgoing minor victim are increasing and due to behaviour of accused, they feel frightened, reluctant to go alone anywhere and suffered mental trauma. To have check on such type of offences, it is necessary to impose reasonable punishment,” the court stated.
