A 25-year-old youth from a village in Vikramgadh taluka of the district who was found guilty of molesting a teenage girl and driving her to commit suicide was convicted as well as sentenced to three years of rigorous imprisonment by Thane Assistant Sessions Judge S M Mahadik.
The judge found the accused Pravin Ananata Gorkhane of Potkhal village guilty of charges under Section 341, Section 354, Section 306 and Section 506 of the Indian Penal Code as well as jailed him for varying terms, along with a fine.
Additional Public Prosecutor Prakash Pujari told the court that the victim was on her way to school on December 4, 2012, along with her friends when the accused waylaid her and abused her.
He grabbed her hair and dragged her on the road. Her friends made an unsuccessful attempt to rescue the girl but failed after the accused threatened them, the prosecution told the court.
The victim went home and ended her life by hanging herself from the ceiling of the house, the prosecution told the court.
The court was also informed that the girl had lost her father, while her brothers worked in a brick kiln in a nearby village and her mother had gone to wash clothes when the incident happened.
The accused who was unemployed, was the son of a peon in another school, the prosecution said.
Taking a serious view of the molestation and her subsequent suicide the judge stated, "In this case the victim was 16-years-old. The act of the accused violated her emotions and self respect".
Holding the accused guilty the judge observed that the accused is responsible for circumstances which provoked and forced the innocent girl to commit suicide.
