Mumbai court sentences man to 1.5 years in prison for calling girl `item’

A Mumbai court has sentenced a 25-year-old man to 1.5 years in jail for calling a girl an “item”.

Mumbai POCSO judge SJ Ansari said referring to a girl as an item “reflects the sexual intent” of the accused.

The case dates back to 2015 when a 25-year-old man pulled the 16-year-old student by the hair asking “Kya item kidhar ja rahi ho?”

The court also observed that the man followed the victim for a month with sexual intent. He refused to consider the accused’s argument that he was falsely implicated by the victim’s parents. The man said that the victim’s parents were against their friendship.

Narrating her ordeal to the court, the victim said at about 1:30 pm when she was on her way to school, the accused was sitting in the lane from where she was proceeding.

The accused came behind her, pulled her hair, and uttered the words. The victim pushed him asking him to stay away. The accused threatened the victim that he could do anything he wanted to. The girl then dialed 100, the accused fled the spot before the police arrived.