Bombay High Court Reduces POCSO Convict’s Life Sentence to 12 Years After Noting Reform Efforts

The Bombay High Court reduced the sentence of a POCSO convict from life imprisonment to 12 years’ rigorous imprisonment, while maintaining his conviction.

The appeal was filed against a 2020 order of a Mumbai POCSO court that had convicted the accused for sexually assaulting a five-year-old child and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

The Court held that the child victim’s testimony was reliable and found no grounds to interfere with the finding of guilt under Section 376 IPC and Section 6 POCSO Act.

The Court considered the accused’s young age at the time of the offence, absence of criminal antecedents, continuous custody since December 2016, and certificates showing participation in educational and reformative programmes in jail. 

[Kalamuddin Mohammad Isteyar Ansari v. State of Maharashtra & Anr.]