Daijiworld Media Network – Mumbai

Mumbai, Nov 5: A special court in Mumbai has sentenced a 27-year-old man to three months in jail for sexually harassing a 17-year-old girl on a local train, stating that traveling in a general compartment does not entitle any male passenger to touch a woman repeatedly.

Special Judge Neeta Anekar, presiding over the POCSO court, convicted the accused under Section 354(D) of the Indian Penal Code (stalking) and relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The court also granted a set-off for the time the accused spent in custody—from January 4, 2019, to April 15, 2019.

According to the prosecution, the victim, a college student, was regularly harassed by the accused for about a year. He would allegedly follow her and board the same train compartment from Borivali to Vile Parle during her daily commute.

On January 4, 2019, while traveling with her elder brother, the accused again boarded the same Borivali slow local. As the train reached Andheri, he moved closer, pushed her, and touched her thigh repeatedly. The victim immediately alerted her brother, who caught the accused with the help of the railway police at Borivali station.

The court found the testimony of the girl and her brother “trustworthy and consistent.” Rejecting the defense’s argument that her first-class pass invalidated her claim, the judge said, “Traveling in a second-class compartment despite holding a first-class pass is not enough to doubt her version. Second-class compartments are often overcrowded, and the victim may have chosen to travel with friends.”

Judge Anekar emphasized, “Even if the compartment is not reserved for women, it does not justify a male passenger repeatedly touching a female passenger.”

The accused will serve the remainder of his sentence after the set-off period.