25-year-old man sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for raping a 13-year-old girl by posing as a cop; culprit sexually assaulted her on the pretext of taking her measurements
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A Special Children's court on Wednesday convicted and sentenced a 25-year-old man to 14 years imprisonment for raping a 13-year-old girl by posing as a cop.
According to her mother's testimony to the court, she would drop her kids at school at 11:30 am every day and then go to work, and pick them up while coming home at 4:30 pm.
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On August 9, 2014, their father left for work. The mother was not in a mood to drop the kids to school, so she let them be home and left for work. When she was on her way back home, she received a call from her daughter, who was crying and saying that the police had come home. The mother asked her to calm down and told her she was reaching home immediately.
Posed as a cop
The mother further told court that when she reached home, her daughter told her that a man dressed like a cop, carrying a key chain of Maharashtra police, told her that he knows her father, and because she had scored good marks, her father had paid to get her a job in the police force. She told her that the accused, later identified as Sudhir Sonawane, then asked for water. When she went in, the accused asked her younger brother to go out. She returned with a glass of water. After that the accused took the measurements of the girl with his hands. When she asked if he was done, he said that he wanted her to remove her clothes, so that he could see if there were any operation marks.
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The girl resisted but the accused forcefully removed her clothes and asked her to lie down.
The accused touched her inappropriately and said that it was part of their job before recruiting someone. But the girl started screaming when Sonawane began to sexually assault her. He then fled the scene.
The mother took the girl to Tilak Nagar police station and filed a complaint. The accused was arrested after few days in other case.
Approached another minor
Sonawane was arrested after he had approached another girl at Ghatkopar. Identifying himself as a policeman, he approached a Std VIII student claiming he knew everything about her. He said he had learnt that she was having an affair and censured her for roaming the streets alone at night. The girl started running away, but the accused followed her. The girl saw her parents and complained about him. Her parents noticed a police van nearby, and asked them to intervene. These cops then chased Sonawane and nabbed him. A case was registered at Ghatkopar police station.
Also read - Mumbai: Mother and her sons convicted for raping her minor daughters
The Special Court also recorded the statement of the survivor. The court convicted accused Sonawane for rape and impersonating a cop, along with relevant sections of POCSO Act and sentenced him to 14 years imprisonment. The court also asked him to pay a fine of Rs 50,000 from which Rs 40,000 will be paid as compensation to the survivor.
Previously, another court had convicted him in the Ghatkopar molestation case.
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