CHENNAI: A 35-year-old man who was booked on charges of sexually assaulting a five-year-old child was sentenced to three years in prison. The verdict of the trial court on Tuesday here said that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges of sexual assault.
However, since it was proved that the man had kidnapped the child, he was sentenced to three years in jail on the kidnapping charges alone.
The victim child's family were street dwellers in Chennai and she was sleeping with her parents on March 4, 2018, on a roadside pavement.
Special Public Prosecutor L Srilekha argued that the convict J Thiagarajan had taken the child to a secluded spot and touched her private parts. The child was rescued by her mother and uncle who woke up hearing the cries of the child.
The convict, a friend of the victim's uncle, came and slept along with the family members on the day of the incident.
In the middle of the night, he allegedly gagged the victim and took her to a secluded spot, the prosecution argued. The police had booked Thiagarajan on charges of kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault under section 10 of the POSCO Act.
The defence counsel argued that the medical report submitted as evidence in the court did not disclose anything of a sexual assault on the victim.
Also, the evidence from both the eyewitness uncle and the mother were contradictory on the occurrence of the incident.
Judge RN Manjula, in her order on Tuesday, observed that the statements of the victim, the mother and the uncle show that each one was telling different facts on the alleged sexual assault committed by the convict.
"As per sections of 29 and 30 of POCSO Act 2012, once the accused is charged for the offences section 3, 5, 7 and 9 an initial presumption has to be taken in favour of the prosecution. However, the reliability of such a presumption has to be tested with the substantiative evidence available on record," the court's order observed.
The court observed that there are contradictions in the versions of the child and the witnesses on how the alleged offence took place.
"There is inconsistency in the narration about the offence committed under section 10 of POCSO act 2012. The contradictory evidence is taken as rebuttal evidence on the side of the accused", observed the judge finding the accused not guilty under POCSO.
However, since the charges of kidnapping the child was proved, the court sentenced Thiagarajan for three years in jail.