A 25-year-old man was sentenced to five years imprisonment by a POCSO court here for stalking and outraging the modesty of a schoolgirl. Shankar Nandipet was held guilty under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code by Judge HC Shinde.
A minor boy, who is also an accused in the case, is being tried by a juvenile court.
According to the prosecution, Nandipet and the boy teased the girl, in Class IX at the time, in 2014 when she was returning from school.
A few months later, when the girl was returning from school after her final examinations, Nandipet and the minor boy stopped her, hugged her forcibly and even tried to kiss her.
After she narrated the ordeal to her father, a case was filed with Dahisar police station.
The court relied on the testimony of the girl, her schoolmates and others to hold Nandipet guilty. The order was passed earlier this week.