Man gets 3 years imprisonment for sexually abusing girl on bus

Panaji: A Pocso court has sentenced Digkson Lobo to three years’ imprisonment for sexually assaulting a minor girl while she was travelling home from school on a bus in Dec 2024.

When his lawyer sought his release on only a fine minus jail sentence, public prosecutor S Navgenkar told the court that this may be perhaps the first time in the state of Goa that a minor girl has shown confidence to file a complaint in a matter of molestation on a bus. She argued that there was no reason for the accused to molest a young girl and scar her for a lifetime and sought the maximum sentence for him.

The court observed that she was barely 17 years old when he molested her on the bus and cannot be released by imposing only a fine.

“In fact, the victim mustered the courage to get the accused apprehended, made a complaint and went through the ordeal of trial. When this entire process has been done for such a long period of time, releasing the accused with a flea-bite sentence will defeat the whole purpose of trial and justice. Therefore, this court cannot release the accused by imposing fine simpliciter,” stated presiding officer, fast track special court, Pooja C Kavlekar.

The girl’s brother filed a complaint at Mapusa police station about the sexual harassment of his sister on the bus. She was sitting in the second row behind the driver on her way home after school around 3 pm. The accused then sat beside her and started talking to her. Initially, she was listening to music, hence she refused to answer, but he then started talking to her and asked her where the bus was going, introduced himself as a photographer by profession and said he was looking out for girls interested in modelling. He also said he had visited a college for the same purpose. He asked her where she stayed and her age, but she started ignoring him. He then showed her his private part and began masturbating and also tried to touch her.

She then immediately called her elder brother and informed him. He told her to get down from the bus and move to a crowded place. When she got down, the accused started following her. She narrated the incident to her brother and cousin and then identified the accused.
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