Witnesses hostile, man gets 7-yr RI for sexual assault as girl sticks to statement | Noida News

Noida: A special Pocso court on Friday handed a man seven-year rigorous imprisonment and Rs 50,000 fine for molestation and aggravated sexual assault of a minor two years ago. The accused had sexually assaulted the girl, then just 9, while she was picking up berries from a deserted jungle in Jewar. In her testimony, the child had told the court that the man had dragged her to a pit and sexually assaulted her, leaving her unconscious at the spot. An FIR filed in the case on her mother’s complaint on July 4, 2023, had accused the man of rape under the Pocso Act‘s Section 5 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault), but two key eyewitnesses turned hostile in court, which eventually watered down the case.

During the investigation, the two men had told police they rescued the minor and saw the accused flee the spot. However, they later changed their statements before the court. Presented as key prosecution witnesses, both told the court they did not see anyone running away when they reached the spot after hearing the child’s screams, and claimed that the minor said she had fallen from a tree.In its verdict, judge Vikas Nagar said the survivor was the sole witness and there was no major contradiction between her statement before the magistrate and the court. The facts were also corroborated by the girl’s mother and father. “There does not appear to be any reason to disbelieve the testimony given by the minor, who was below nine years on the alleged date of commission of offence,” the court said.It, however, noted that rape was not established, as neither the minor clarified the kind of penetration nor was it supported by the medical report. “It cannot be held with certainty that the victim was penetratively sexually assaulted. But the version of the girl brings the act of the accused within the purview of the act of molestation and the act of aggravated sexual assault,” the court ruled. He was convicted under IPC section 354B (assault or use of criminal force on woman with intent to disrobe) and Pocso Act Section 10 (aggravated sexual assault) read with section 9. It also directed that 80% of the Rs 50,000 fine should be given to the minor for rehabilitation.