"Masturbating in public infers sexual intent": Mumbai court

Mumbai: Masturbating is a sexual act and if done in the presence of another person, it is sufficient to infer the sexual intent of an accused, a court in Mumbai said.

Afterwards, the special court convicted a 60-year-old man in a case of child sex abuse.

Priya Bankar, special judge for Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act cases, sentenced the accused to one-year imprisonment on August 29.

The order became available on Thursday.

The prosecution's case was that when the victim, a four-year-old boy, went to the tailoring shop of the accused near his house, he saw the accused touching his private part.

The accused also showed him his private part, as per the complaint registered under the POCSO Act.

The accused's lawyer contended that he had not called the boy to the shop, nor did he go near the boy.

The court in its judgment said that it was true that the boy saw the man's act accidentally.

But the accused's shop was small and any passer-by could have seen his act, hence it cannot be said that he was masturbating in private, the court said.

When the boy saw the man's act, he did not hide it but tried to give him some explanation, the court said.

"There is a very adverse impact of the incident on the victim, on his family members and even on society. They are under the impression that the house and nearby vicinity is not safe for children and it is going to cause an alarming situation in society," the judge said.

"Definitely, such type of incident causes terror in the mind of people and leaves scar in the mind of the victim for a long time." the judge observed while passing the conviction order.

PTI with edits