Man acquitted in girl sexual assault case; overjoyed mother collapses in courtroom, hospitalised

Thane, Sep 2 (PTI) A special court in Maharashtra's Thane district has acquitted a 28-year-old man in a sexual assault case involving a minor girl after he spent five years in jail.

After the court in Kalyan pronounced the verdict on Monday, his mother collapsed in the courtroom as she was overwhelmed with joy, and had to be admitted to a hospital.

Special judge V N Patrawale, hearing cases related to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, acquitted Altaf Khan after highlighting serious lapses in the police investigation and absence of strong evidence.

Speaking to reporters after the court's verdict, advocate Ganesh Gholap, who represented Khan, said, "My client has been in jail for five long years without proper evidence against him. The court pointed out multiple mistakes by the investigation agencies and acquitted him." "Khan's mother, who was present when the verdict was pronounced, collapsed in the courtroom due to the overwhelming relief of seeing her son freed after so many years. She had to be rushed for primary medical treatment and later shifted to a hospital," he said.

Giving details of the case, he said, Khan worked as a technician of elevators. In 2020, his family had a dispute with a neighbour over property rent. Following the dispute, the neighbour's wife lodged a complaint at the Mahatma Phule police station, alleging that Khan called her minor daughter to his house and sexually assaulted her.

On the basis of the complaint, Khan was arrested.

Advocate Gholap emphasized the injustice suffered by his client.

"We applied twice for bail, but both the applications were rejected. Because of this, Altaf had to remain behind bars for five years. The most productive years of his life got wasted due to a false allegation," he said.

He alleged that the police filed a charge sheet, but the evidence was full of inconsistencies.

During the trial, the victim was brought before Khan in the court, but she failed to even recognise him. The medical officer confirmed that the complaint had in fact been filed by the girl's mother. The court found the allegations baseless and noted that Khan was not present in the house area on the day of the incident, he said. PTI COR NP