Ahmedabad: A special Pocso court here on Wednesday sentenced a man to six years imprisonment for forcibly kissing a 15-year-old girl in a public place. It also awarded same sentence to another man for stalking and harassing the minor girl.The incident took place in Odhav area on Oct 1, 2024. One of the accused, Mohit Nadiya, 20, stopped the victim while she was heading home and made indecent demands. Another accused Akash Parmar, 26, stood in front of the girl, blocking her way. When she protested, Parmar caught her by the hair and kissed her. The victim pushed him back and ran towards her home.The victim’s father lodged a complaint with Odhav police station and both the accused were booked under BNS and Pocso Act. During the trial, additional public prosecutors D M Thakor and K G Jain examined seven witnesses and placed 10 documents on record to establish Parmar and Nadiya’s offence.They also relied on the victim’s statement recorded by a judicial magistrate in which she narrated the incident and said that she sustained injury to her tongue when Parmar forcibly kissed her.Special judge A B Bhatt found both the accused guilty and punished them with a six-year jail term. The court imposed a Rs 15,000 fine on Parmar and a Rs 10,000 fine on Nadiya. In its order, the court stated, “If offenders are not properly taught a lesson for such acts and are let off lightly with lenient punishment, it only emboldens others who commit these disgraceful offences against a woman’s dignity and encourages the spread of such crimes.”
