Mumbai Crime: School trustee acquitted in sexual assault case

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A French national, who is a trustee of a renowned school in suburban Andheri, accused of sexually assaulting a three-year-old girl student, was acquitted by a court here on Saturday. The 59-year-old was charged under IPC section 376 (rape) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Advocate Hitesh Buch, one of the defence lawyers, said the girl, a student of the same school, denied any wrongdoing on the part of the trustee. Medical evidence too did not support the police case, therefore special judge A D Deo acquitted him, the lawyer said. The girl's class teacher, made a co-accused for allegedly abetting the crime, was also acquitted. Ashok Gupte, the minor's lawyer, said the charges were baseless.

"The victim's elder sister studied in the same class. She told the court that the girl was never taken out of the class," Gupte said. As per the prosecution's case, it was the teacher who took the girl to the trustee. The trustee was arrested in November 2017 after the Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights directed the police to register a case, five months after the alleged crime took place.

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