Mumbai: 7 years’ rigorous imprisonment for karate coach for sexually assaulting 10-year-old | Mumbai Information

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MUMBAI: When a karate teacher discovered that a karate teacher had sexually assaulted his 10 year old students, it was an example of the “fence itself that grazes the crops”. A special Pocso court convicted the trainer and sentenced him to 7 years imprisonment.
The court said that while his duty was to train the twin girls to defend himself, he became their assailant.
“Here the accused has left such a scar on the psyche of the victims that they will never be able to join such classes, let alone defend themselves. The defendant deserves no indulgence for such an act, ”said the special judge Rekha N Pandhare and asked him to pay 25,000 rupees to each child.
The parents went to the police because the trainer was planning to restart the class
The court found that parents who leave children with a school or institute such as the one that the defendant ran feel confident that their children will be safe with a teacher. “The victim’s children insisted that their parents admit them to the classes led by the defendants. Even parents admitted that karate skills are necessary for everyone to protect themselves from harm … ”the court said.
It relied on the testimony of the children and their mother to pin the defendant down. The defense brought in witnesses like other students and their parents who had defected.
The twins’ mother told the court that the girls had joined class after seeing a brochure at their school in June 2015. She said on August 15, 2015 that she told her daughters to go to class, but they refused. When she questioned them, after class on August 8, 2015, they said the defendant told all students to close their eyes and sit still. The girls said he took turns calling her into the locker room and sexually abusing her.
The mother said she informed her husband and they both met the owner of the premises. They complained to him, and when the defendant was confronted, he admitted the incident and apologized. The owner told him to close class. The mother said after four to five days when they heard that he was planning to start his class elsewhere, they complained to the police because they did not want other children to be victims. An FIR was filed on August 21, 2015 and he was arrested. He was on bail.
(The victim’s identity was not disclosed in order to protect his or her privacy as per Supreme Court guidelines in sexual assault-related cases.)

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