Mumbai: Man sentenced for three years for stalking teenager

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The Sessions Court on Tuesday convicted a 35-year-old man for stalking a minor girl in Andheri East. The man, Shyam Dhanawade, is a neighbour of the survivor who was a 16-year-old when the case was registered at Airport police station in 2014. Dhanawade used to always follow the girl and had tried to lure her with a smartphone.

"The girl was going to her tuition class in July 2014 when he followed her and forcibly tried to give her the mobile phone. When the girl resisted, Dhanawade threatened that he would malign her with fake cases against her. She got scared and accepted the mobile phone. Two days later, he called her on the number and told her to visit his house as he was alone at home," said special public prosecutor Gita Sharma.

After his call, the scared girl smashed the mobile phone, threw it into a nearby drain and informed her parents. The parents approached the Airport police station where a case under relevant sections of the IPC and provisions of POCSO was registered. The police then arrested him.

"He has been convicted based on the statements of the girl and her relatives. Though the defence witnesses alleged that the girl had stolen Dhanawade's mobile phone and the case was filed after Dhanawade caught her," said Sharma.

The Sessions Court sentenced Dhanawade to three years with a fine of Rs 25,000 on Tuesday.

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