A special POCSO court in Thane has sentenced a 30-year-old man to 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting a minor girl between 2021 and 2022.
Dhaneshwar alias Dhuleshwar Pujiyalal Kalasuva was convicted of repeatedly raping the minor and convicted under the Indian Penal Code and on charges of aggravated sexual assault under the POCSO Act.
The court rejected his defense that the relationship was a consensual “love relationship,” and said that A A minor’s consent has no legal validity under the law, according to PTI.
The case
The Kapurbwadi police registered the FIR in July 2022, according to the prosecution. The girl, who had a food stall near Kalasova’s tea stall in Majiwada, allegedly told her mother that she was having an affair with him. The prosecution alleged that Kalasova had A sexual relationship with her for about a year.
The girl and the accused, who was 26 at the time, later traveled to his native village in Rajasthan, the prosecution said. After her return, the medical examination showed that she was 20 weeks pregnant.
The pregnancy was reportedly aborted at Thane Civil Hospital. The agency stated that DNA analysis confirmed that the accused is the biological father of the fetus.
What did the court say?
But the court acquitted Kalasova of A Kidnapping charge. She added that the girl went with him alone to his village in Rajasthan to marry him and get away from her family. The court ruled that the prosecution failed to prove that Kalasova removed her from the legal custody of her parents.
During the trial, the prosecution questioned seven witnesses.
The court rejected the defense’s argument that the relationship was consensual, and said that the law provides absolute protection for children under the age of 18.
“Section 375 IPC states that when a girl is less than 18 years of age, even if the sexual intercourse is with her consent, it amounts to rape. Likewise, under the POCSO Act, when the victim is less than 18 years of age, her consent to sexual intercourse is immaterial. Once it is proven that the victim was a child, the consent of the victim is immaterial,” the court observed.
Defense lawyer JP Gulab asked for the minimum sentence, saying the relationship was consensual and pointing to the defendant’s poor financial situation.
