‘Girls are not safe even if they are around people’

MUMBAI: A special POCSO court on Wednesday sentenced a 32-year-old man to three years of imprisonment for molesting a 16-year-old Marathi television actress at Dadar station when she was boarding a local train for Thane in January 2019.

While convicting the accused, the court noted that the incident took place in a crowded area while the girl was boarding a local train and observed that such incidents show that “girls are not safe even when they are surrounded by many people”.

The incident took place when she was returning from Goregaon, where she had to change a train from Dadar station.

In her testimony, the girl said at the time of the incident, she was studying in 12th standard as well as acting in a Marathi serial and used to go for shooting at suburban Goregaon from Thane, where she resided.

The accused had questioned her evidence, stating that she was an actress but her identity card used for entry into the studio was not provided by the prosecution. The court discarded the arguments that there was no evidence to discard her oral testimony and that she was an actress and used to go to the Film City for shooting.

It is a reason for her travelling by train at the relevant time and it does not directly relate to the incident, the court said.

The accused also tried to dispute the entire incident on the ground that due to a separate coach for women, there was no need for the complainant to board a general coach.

The judge said that no doubt there are separate coaches for women in trains, but their entry in the general coach is not restricted to men or prohibited for women and they can travel in the general coach like any other passenger. Besides, the prosecution said that at the relevant time, the girl was travelling with her male friend. So, looking at the same, there was nothing abnormal in her travelling with a male friend in a general coach, it added.