Children sleeping on pavements are unprotected to sexual exploitation and need protection, a special court said while sentencing a man to five years in jail for sexually abusing an eight-year-old girl. The observation was made in connection with an incident that occurred in the intervening night of June 29 and 30, 2018. Around 1.45 am, the victim, who was sleeping next to her parents on a pavement in Grant Road, was picked up and molested by the person. When she began crying, the accused run away. Special Judge Bharti Kale relied on CCTV footage to convict the person on charges of kidnapping and harassment under relevant sections of the IPC and therefore the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. The report stated that old injuries to the victim’s private parts showed that she had been sexually abused earlier too, but it went unreported, the court said.
