On 20 December, the Bombay High Court held that the accused involved in the minor’s sexual assault case should be “mercilessly and inexorably punished.”
Dismissing the appeal filed by Sagar Dhuri alias Baburao, who was involved in molesting a five-year-old girl, the court upheld the conviction of a 29-year-old, Baburao.
The bench of Justice Prithviraj Chavan set aside the appeal filed by Baburao, wherein he challenged the court order of Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO), which convicted him for sexually assaulting the victim and sentenced him to ten years in jail.
“The dicta are loud and clear as to how such offenses are required to be dealt with. Such persons are a menace to the civilized society and, therefore, they should be mercilessly and inexorably punished,” observed the judge. He further stated that there is no question of reformation of the appellant as he was quite a grownup male who knew the consequences of his act.
In April 2015, the appellant (Dhuri), who used to live in the same neighborhood as the victim, called the girl to his house under the pretext of showing her songs on his mobile phone and sexually assaulted her. The victim used to call him ‘Dada’ (elder brother), however, the appellant betrayed her trust by molesting her and was about to commit aggravated penetrative sexual assault upon the victim. Nonetheless, he could not succeed in his vicious acts, due to the intervention of a neighbor.
Later, a police complaint was lodged against Dhuri and he was taken into custody.
