Mumbai: 23-year-old salesman of Sari shop gets 3-year rigorous imprisonment for sexually abusing minor

Mumbai, Jun 16: A special court in Mumbai has convicted a 23-year-old salesman of a sari shop for sexually abusing a minor customer and outraging her modesty while helping her try out a garment, and sentenced him to three years' rigorous imprisonment.

Though the salesman argued that the girl's mother had falsely implicated him in the case after he refused to offer her a discount in prices of the saris she purchased, Special Judge Anis A J Khan, in the order passed earlier this week, said a mother will not put her minor daughter's "chastity at stake" just for a price discount.

"The deposition of the victim has to be taken as whole. It is direct evidence. Her sole testimony is reliable and sufficient to establish the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt," the court said.

"A mother will not put the chastity of her daughter at stake for a discount. I hold that the evidence of the victim is reliable and trustworthy," the judge said. The incident took place in 2016.

The victim had narrated the incident to her mother after they got out of the shop. Her parents then went to police and lodged a complaint.

PTI