Noida: A special POCSO court granted bail to a man accused of molesting a minor after noting that he had no criminal background. The minor told police and a magistrate that the accused had entered her house while her parents were away and offered to marry her. She alleged that he threatened to kill her if she refused.The girl’s mother had filed a complaint at Dadri police station on Oct 5, alleging that the man had molested her daughter. She told the cops that around 1pm that day she and her husband had gone for work when a neighbour came to their home and molested her daughter. An FIR was registered against the man under BNS sections 74 (use of criminal force against a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty) and 351 (3) (aggravated form of criminal intimidation) and Section 7/8 of the POCSO Act (Sexual assault against a child).Police arrested the man and sent him to judicial custody on Oct 7.Defence advocate Farid Ahmad said the accused neither committed molestation against the woman’s daughter nor threatened her. He said the woman had a mala fide intention and falsely implicated his client. Special public prosecutor Chhavanpal Singh objected to the bail application and said that the accused is a habitual offender.The court said the date of birth of the girl is Aug 30, 2015, and this brings her age to be below 12 years as on the alleged date of commission of the offence. “The girl in her statement has categorically stated that on Oct 5 the accused came to her home and molested her. She said the accused offered to solemnise marriage with her and when she refused he threatened to kill her. No other serious allegations are involved in the commission of the said offence,” the court noted.Judge Abhishek Pandey said, “This Court is not satisfied by the prosecution that the applicant is a habitual criminal who was previously also involved in such activities. No criminal history of the applicant is filed,” ordering the accused to execute a personal bond of Rs 35,000 and one surety of the like amount for securing conditional bail.The court specified that the accused will remain present in the court during trial, cooperate in the investigation and will not in any manner directly or indirectly influence or intimidate prosecution witnesses.
