27 January,2024 06:54 PM IST | Thane | PTI
Representational Pic/File
A court in Thane district of Maharashtra has acquitted a man accused of sexually harassing and threatening a 15-year-old girl in 2016 citing lack of evidence.
Special court judge D S Deshmukh passed the order on Monday, but it was made available on Saturday.
Accused Swapnil Shrikant Kambale, 32, was booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment of the nature of unwelcome physical contact and advances, 354D (stalking), 506 (criminal intimidation), and under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Act.
According to the prosecution, the incident had occurred in 2016 and the first information report (FIR) was filed that year on October 14 at the Shreenagar police station in Thane.
ALSO READ
Rain roulette: Maharashtra on storm watch
'Introduce single-window clearance scheme to streamline film shooting permits'
Vijay Hazare Trophy: Karnataka clinch thriller; Mumbai, Maharashtra record identical wins
Maharashtra Deputy CM Shinde meets PM Modi, Amit Shah
Mumbai local train updates: WR to run 8 New Year's Eve Special trains
The victim, who was a school student at the time, accused Kambale of stalking her, making advances, and threatening her family. The charges were framed on May 4, 2018.
In the judgment, the court said there was a lack of substantial evidence to prove the guilt of the accused and acquitted him from the case.
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever