Kandivali man sentenced to 12 years in prison for sexually assaulting his minor nephew | Mumbai News

“The accused succumbed to his baser urges and instincts and did not even care that the boy was ill and that he was the son of a relative and friend. The acts committed by the accused were therefore clearly an abuse of the trust that the boy's father had placed in him,” the court said when announcing the verdict.

The accused lived with the boy's family in Kandivali. On March 16, 2017, the survivor first reported his inappropriate behavior towards his father. During questioning, the accused argued with the boy's father and claimed that the allegations were false. Despite this, the father gave him a warning and asked him to keep his distance from his son.

Four days later, the accused allegedly sexually assaulted the 11-year-old again, prompting the boy's father to file a complaint at the Samata Nagar police station. An FIR was filed against the accused, charging him with “unnatural sexual intercourse” under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 6 (sexual assault) and 12 (sexual harassment of a child) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.

During the trial, Deputy Public Prosecutor AA Deotarse argued that the accused had harassed a minor relative and continued his actions despite the boy's father reprimanding him for it. Since the survivor was already ill, the accused's actions had significantly affected the boy, he argued. Therefore, he demanded that the maximum possible sentence be imposed on the accused.

Advocate Siddharth Desai, representing the accused, argued that the case against his client is based on a false allegation. He claimed that the boy's father refused to return the money borrowed by the accused for his daughter's wedding. He added that the accused was living as a tenant in his father's house and disputes arose over his inability to pay the full rent. Desai also said the boy was suffering from delusions and hallucinations, which may have led to the “imaginary incidents”.

Special Judge SJ Ansari, however, rejected the defence. The court said the boy had a neurological disorder that caused fainting spells, so it could not be said that the complaint was due to delusions or hallucinations. Moreover, the accused had failed to substantiate his claim of false imputation due to financial disputes, the court added.

“Small children like the already sick boy who was the victim would certainly have been traumatized by the defendant's actions. It must therefore be made clear to the general public that sexual assault on minors of any gender will not be tolerated,” the court said.