The court, in its order passed on February 28, also convicted a woman attendant of the school bus and sentenced her to the jail term that she has already undergone. The girl was a nursery student in a convent school located in Mira Road locality and the incident occurred while she was returning home after attending the school.
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MUMBAI: A Court in Maharashtra’s Thane district has sentenced a school bus driver to seven years of rigorous imprisonment for allegedly sexually harassing a girl who was under four years old at the time of the incident in 2019. The court, in its ruling on February 28, also found a female attendant on the school bus guilty and sentenced her to the term of imprisonment she had already served. The testimony of the young victim played a crucial role in convicting the accused and supporting the prosecution’s case.
The victim, a nursery student at a convent school in Mira Road locality, experienced the harassment while returning home from school. Special court judge D S Deshmukh, overseeing cases related to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, pronounced the driver-cum-cleaner Denis Thomas Lewis (67) and female attendant Jenevia Anil Mathais (36) guilty and determined their sentences. Each convict was also fined Rs 5,000. Special public prosecutor Vivek G Kadu informed the court that the three-year-old girl used the bus for school transportation.
In the order, the judge said that the driver committed a heinous offence with the minor victim.
“It was his duty to take care of the school-going children with utmost love and affection. Instead, he subjected the minor girl to aggravated sexual assault, and it was the duty of the bus attendant to inform the incident to her superior which she did not perform,”
-the court said.
Instead of showing fatherly love, affection and protection to the child travelling by the school bus, the accused sexually harassed her and the woman failed to perform her duty as an attendant, it said.
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The driver submitted to the court that he is now 67 years old and has been in jail for the last more than four years. He said he is suffering from Parkinson’s disease, while the attendant submitted that she has small children and there is nobody to look after them.
“Considering the submissions of the accused, his age and disease, and considering the behaviour of the accused attendant during the trial and her family background, I take a lenient view and the following punishment would meet the ends of justice,”
-the judge noted while pronouncing the quantum of sentence.
The incident came to light on December 13, 2019, when the girl’s mother noticed unusual behavior and, upon inquiry, learned about the sexual abuse from her daughter. The parents promptly reported the matter to the school, leading to a case being registered under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 354A (sexual harassment) and the POCSO Act. The prosecution highlighted that the female attendant failed to report the incident to the school management despite being aware of it.
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