A special court in Mumbai sentenced a bus conductor to one year in prison for asking a 13-year-old school girl if she knew anything about sex.
The defendant, identified as Chandrakant Sudam Koli, was found guilty by the court under Section 12 of the Child Protection from Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO).
The court also fined Koli 15,000 rupees, which will be given to the victim after the appeal period has expired.
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WHAT’S THE CASE
The 13-year-old girl told the court that she rode a government-run bus to school every morning. In the past, only a bus drove near her home in the eastern suburb of Mumbai.
The incident happened in July 2018 when the girl got on the bus one day and noticed that there were about two or three other people sitting in the front of the bus.
The girl decided to take the back seat of the bus near the window. When Koli, the bus conductor, came near her, she showed him her pass.
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Koli then went away, but came back later, sat down next to her and asked her if she knew anything about sex.
The girl told him not to ask her such questions, whereupon Koli went back to the front seat of the bus. A few minutes later he came back to the girl and asked her the same question. But again the girl refused to answer.
The girl then got off the bus as her bus stop approached. She told her friend about the incident, who in turn informed her mother.
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When the girl refused to take the bus to school a few days later, the victim’s mother asked her if something was wrong. However, the girl did not tell her mother anything.
The mother then asked the girl’s friend who had told her about the incident with the conductor. Then she took her daughter to the bus station. When the girl identified Koli, the mother called the police and one case was recorded at the Nehru Police Station.
After the case was filed, Kohli was only put behind bars for 12 days but was later released on bail.
The Special Court has now sentenced Koli to one year in prison. His lawyers then filed for parole. The special court upheld the defendant’s appeal and suspended the sentence for 30 days.
Koli is now expected to file his appeal with the Supreme Court related to the case within 30 days.
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