POCSO court acquits man accused of molesting teenage girl

Thane, Oct 25 (PTI) A special POCSO court has acquitted a tribal man from Maharashtra’s Palghar district nearly six years after he was accused of molesting a girl, holding that the prosecution failed to prove the charges against him beyond reasonable doubt.

Special POCSO Judge VV Virkar issued an operative order on October 21 giving relief to Pravin Palave (26), who hails from the Jawhar taluka in the district.

According to the prosecution, on the night of November 11, 2017, Palave entered the house of a teenage girl, then aged 17, and molested her. He was booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Advocate Ramrao Jagtap, who represented Palave, argued that his client had had no role in the “so-called” incident. He also pointed out what he called lapses in the police probe.

After hearing both sides, the court held that the prosecution had failed to prove the case against Palave and that he needed to be freed.