Watchman gets 7-year jail for sodomising minor in Thane

A 34-year-old watchman of a housing complex in Thane was awarded seven years imprisonment for sodomising a minor in 2015. The order was pronounced on the charges under section 377 (unnatural offences) of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Thane: District court of Thane in Maharashtra has awarded seven years of rigorous imprisonment to a 34-year-old watchman of a housing complex for sodomising a minor boy in 2015.

District Judge HM Patwardhan pronounced the order last week, convicting the accused, Sunil alias Sahil Ramprakash Upadhyay, under section 377 (unnatural offences) of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. After hearing both the sides, the judge rejected the defence counsel's argument that the accused was falsely implicated in the case due to a dispute with the boy's father. The prosecution urged the court to award maximum punishment to the accused without taking any lenient view.

"Considering the nature of the offence and its impact on the victim, in my opinion, the order would serve the purpose," the judge said while pronouncing the punishment.

According to the prosecution, the accused sodomised the boy, then aged 10 and living with his parents in a housing society in Mira Road area of Thane, on September 22, 2015, after calling him to his security cabin in the building.

The accused was arrested following a complaint lodged by the boy's father.