Thane court acquits man in 5-year-old girl's sexual assault case, cites lapses in probe

A special court in Thane has acquitted a 56yearold man in the alleged sexual assault of a fiveyearold girl citing serious lapses in the prosecutions case and failure to establish the identity of the accused news agency PTI reportedThe alleged incident took place on May 23 in the Rabodi area of Thane According to the prosecution the child was playing outside when the accused allegedly lured her with a promise of chocolates took her to the third floor and sexually assaulted herSpecial Judge GT Pawar acquitted the man on Tuesday He had spent four months in custody and was facing charges under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 10 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences POCSO ActA key issue before the court was the failure to establish the accuseds identity The court particularly highlighted the polices failure to capture a photograph of the accused at the time of his arrestThe prosecution had argued that the fiveyearold girl could not identify the accused during the court proceedings held via video conference because his appearance had changed while he was in jailRejecting the argument the judge noted There is nothing on record to show the appearance of the accused at the time of the incident to compare the changesNo photograph is affixed on the arrest form If Investigating Officer had affixed a photograph of the accused on the arrest form it could have been used for comparing the change in appearance of the accusedThe court also noted that the girl explicitly denied in court that the accused had assaulted her She further told the court that the police had asked her to deposeBased on the prosecutions failure to establish the accuseds identity and other lapses highlighted during the proceedings the special court acquitted the 56yearold manLatur man arrested for allegedly raping 17yearold over lsquokundali doshrsquoPolice in Maharashtras Latur have arrested a man for allegedly raping and impregnating a 17yearold girl on the pretext of removing a lsquodoshrsquo or flaw in her horoscope an official said on ThursdayThe accused Rameshwar Maharaj a resident of Thakre Chowk in Latur allegedly convinced the girl that there was a problem with her lsquokundalirsquo horoscope that required certain rituals for correction the Vivekanand Chowk Police Station official told news agency PTIUnder the pretext of socalled corrective measures he raped the girl at her residence due to which she got pregnant He also told her not to mention it to anyone or else the affliction in the horoscope would return The crime took place in June this year he saidA case was registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences POCSO Act and the states AntiSuperstition Act SubInspector AK Kale told PTIRameshwar was arrested on Wednesday Kale addedA local court later remanded him in police custody for four daysWith PTI inputs