A special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act court has granted bail to a man accused of sexually assaulting a five-year-old child. Additional Sessions Judge D.P. Satawalekar was hearing the fourth bail plea filed by Ronald Noronha, 31, after the charge sheet was filed.
The five-year-old girl was playing outside her house in Bandra when Noronha who lives in the opposite building lured her with chocolates and took her to his house. He allegedly raped her and burnt her body to keep her from disclosing the incident to anybody. However, the family members got to know of the incident and filed a FIR against him.
The Bandra police booked him under Section 376 of the IPC and Section 4 (punishment for penetrative sexual assault), Section 8 (punishment for sexual assault), Section 10 (punishment for aggravated sexual assault) and Section 12 (punishment for sexual harassment) of POCSO ACT. A charge sheet was then filed in the case.
Advocate Tanveer Nizam appearing for Noronha argued that the statement of the victim was taken in the presence of her mother in contravention to Section 164 (recording of the confessions and statements) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The fresh ground for filing the bail is a 24-hour delay between the date of medical examination and registration of FIR. Mr. Nizam argued that overwriting in the FIR showed manipulations and fabrications by the prosecution to suit their intentions. The court granted bail on executing a personal bond ₹Rs 20,000 with one or two solvent sureties of the amount.
