Bombay High Court upholds life sentence for man convicted of sexually abusing five underage girls

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday (September 11) upheld the verdict and life sentence of a 40-year-old man convicted of sexually abusing at least five underage girls.

A bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Prithviraj Chavan upheld the judgment of a special court in Thane on March 29, 2014, convicting Ramesh Gopnur for the rape of five minor girls and sentencing him to life imprisonment under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

“Considering the evidence, it is evident that all the five victims were sexually abused by the accused. Not only do the statements of the survivors inspire confidence, but these are also duly corroborated by the medical evidence and the statements of PW6 who had witnessed the incident of sexual assault. All the survivors were minors between the ages of 8 and 13 years. There is a presumption under Section 29 of the POCSO Act. This presumption has not been rebutted by the accused.” said the court's order.

The judges therefore considered it appropriate to uphold the conviction and sentence of the appellant Gopnur and accordingly dismissed his appeal.

background

According to the prosecution, the defendant was observed sexually abusing one of the victims by a neighbor, who reported this to the victim's mother. When the other neighbors learned of the incident, all four other victims told their parents one by one about their experiences and how the defendant, who was 'Mama' of all the victims, abused her by calling her to her house under the pretext of cleaning his utensils or buying him bidi or matchbox etc.

The prosecution pointed out that the accused had sexually abused the neighbours' underage girls because he lived in a different house than his wife and children.

In his defence, the complainant argued that he was falsely implicated in the case because of a land dispute pending between him and the family of one of the victims.

However, the court found that the statements of each victim confirmed each other and inspired confidence, and therefore dismissed his appeal.

Look:

Counsel Laxmi Raman was appointed for the appellant.

The state was additionally represented by public prosecutor Gauri Rao.

Attorney AR Kapadnis was appointed as amicus curiae for the appellant.

Case Title: Ramesh Gopnur v. State of Maharashtra (Criminal Appeal 595 of 2014)

Click here to read/download the judgment