Mumbai: A man falsely accused of sexual assault by his daughter for objecting to her relationship with a boy was acquitted by a local court in Andheri for lack of evidence after spending five and a half years in jail. It is learned that the girl, who was 14 years old and was studying in class VII in a government school at the time had accused her father of continuously raping her. While she was shifted to a juvenile home, the man was arrested by the police under POCSO Act.
However, a special POCSO court has directed to release the accused father after acquitting him. Additional Sessions Judge Shrikant Bhosle while passing the judgment said the man deserves to be acquitted and also directed the concerned administration to issue an order for the immediate release of the accused from jail. The judge said that the prosecution could not produce the necessary evidence of sexual intercourse during the physical examination of the girl. It is said the girl was also mentally unwell.
On March 5, 2017, the girl who lived with her parents and two younger sisters and two brothers reported the sexual assault by her father to her class teacher. She informed that her father raped her three to four times every month at home from January 2016 to March 5, 2017. The teacher informed a voluntary organization about this in Andheri.
A complaint was lodged with the city police. After that, the female police sub-inspector went to the school and recorded the statement of the victim girl and the teacher. Also, after a medical examination of the victim, an FIR was registered on 16 March 2017 and her father was arrested on 18 March 2017 and a charge sheet was filed after the investigation.
