Children Sleeping On Pavement Need Protection, Vulnerable To Sexual Exploitation: Court

A Special Court in Mumbai sentenced a man to five years of imprisonment for sexually assaulting an eight-year-old girl. The court added that children sleeping on pavements are vulnerable to sexual exploitation and hence need protection.

The court said in its statement, "One shudders to think what the accused could have done with the victim if she was not able to return safely. From such incidents, the court finds that children, both boys and girls, sleeping on pavement are so vulnerable to sexual exploitation. The accused in this case had easily taken away the victim as she slept in the open on the pavement, unprotected."

According to the accused's lawyer, there was no sexual assault. He said that the minor child had woken up to go to the toilet and was trying to wake up the parents. When they didn't, the accused volunteered to take her. He also claimed to have known the child survivor as he worked in a stall nearby. The minor and her mother were declared hostile witnesses during the trial.

Geeta Sharma, the Special Public Prosecutor, noted that the minor girl and her mother were not able to depose properly and hence were called 'rustic' witnesses. According to medical reports, the minor had old injuries indicating previous sexually abuse which went unreported. Hence, the medical report didn’t help as evidence. But there was another evidence that proved that the accused did not take the minor to the toilet but sexually abused her.

The court also mentioned that even though the CCTV footages help in tracking down the accused and in the punishment procedure, it doesn't help in the protection of the children in the first place. The court also said that unless vulnerable children are saved, they would keep suffering.

The court further added, "The CCTV footage does not reflect when the accused had picked up the victim, she was awake and asked for help…The CCTV footage falsifies the contention of the accused…"