Watchman gets 5-year jail term for sexually assaulting 4-year-old girl

MUMBAI: The Dindoshi sessions court has recently convicted a 39-year-old watchman and sentenced him to five years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting the four-year-old daughter of a Vile Parle family who he was acquainted with.
While convicting the accused, Guddu Mishra, additional sessions judge Ashwini Lokhande observed that no mother in future would allow her small daughter to roam with the person whom she trusted. Accused was acquainted with the family members of the victim,” the court said.
The father of the victim used to run a food stall on a footpath in Vile Parle East. The girl’s mother used to look after the stall, too, with her minor daughter often accompanying her. The accused used to work as a watchman at a nearby building. He also used to wash and park the cars of the residents. While doing so, he used to take the car out for short drives.
The incident occurred on October 23, 2022, when the child’s mother was busy selling eatables at the stall while her daughter was playing in the compound of the building where the accused worked. At some point, the four-year-old was taken for a drive in a car by the accused. He stopped the car near a Chinese food stall and began to sexually assault her. Hearing the girl’s cries, two persons came to check what was going on and took her out of the car. They also contacted her parents after the girl told them about their stall. Subsequently, a case was filed by the mother against the accused in the Vile Parle police station.
The prosecution submitted that the offence was serious in nature, and they were able to prove the charges with the help of independent witnesses in the case. The security guard’s advocate, however, stated that the girl’s mother registered a false case due to enmity between her and Mishra, as the latter had refused to let her put up a vegetable stall outside the society building where he worked.
After going through the evidence, the court observed that the heinous act committed by the accused would leave a life-long psychological and emotional impact on the victim and her family.
“No compensation can be adequate, nor can it be of any respite for the victim. The humiliation or the reputation that is snuffed out cannot be re-compensated, but then monetary compensation will at least provide some solace,” the court said and ordered the accused to pay a fine of ₹10,000, in addition to undergoing five years of imprisonment.