Thane special court acquits 21-year-old in 2024 abduction and sexual assault case

A special court in Maharashtra's Thane district has acquitted a 21-year-old man in a 2024 case of abduction and sexual assault. The court also strongly recommended compensation and rehabilitation for the minor victim.

Special Judge (POCSO) Premal S. Vithlani said in the order that the victim's father died during the trial and that she currently lives in a shelter home. According to the judge, whatever the outcome of the trial, she needs restorative justice and financial support immediately. A copy of the order, passed on November 7, was made available on Friday.

According to the prosecution, the case began with an FIR registered at Shil-Daighar police station on May 1, 2024. That day, the father of the 13-year-old girl had complained that she was missing. Police later traced the girl and the accused in Delhi. The accused was the girl's neighbour.

Police had booked the accused under Sections 363 (kidnapping) and 376(2)(n) (rape) of the Indian Penal Code, along with relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The allegation was that he abducted the girl and repeatedly sexually assaulted her at different places in Mumbai and Delhi.

The defence argued that the accused and the adolescent were in a consensual relationship and that the girl had left home of her own will.

The court found several inconsistencies between the girl's statement to the police and her testimony in court. The judge accepted that she was a minor, but said the prosecution had failed to prove that she was enticed or taken away from home. According to the court, the girl left home of her own volition while her father was asleep.

The court also said the prosecution could not produce a chemical analysis report confirming bloodstains on the seized clothes. As the foundational facts did not hold, the court said the statutory presumptions under the POCSO Act could not be invoked. The accused was then acquitted of all charges.

Despite the acquittal, the court took note of the girl's destitute condition after her father's death. It referred the matter to the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), Thane, under Section 33(8) of the POCSO Act and Section 357-A(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

The judge observed, "The purpose of compensating the victim is restoration and rehabilitation. Its aim is to reduce physical and mental suffering, whether the trial ends in conviction or acquittal."