India, June 23 -- A special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act court has acquitted a 31-year-old man in a 2013 case in which he, along with five juveniles in conflict with law, were accused of stripping, sexually assaulting and filming a 14-year-old boy, holding that the prosecution failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt after a trial that lasted over 12 years.

Additional Sessions Judge Mahesh K. Jadhav acquitted the man of all the charges arising out of a case registered by Powai police in October 2013.

According to the prosecution, the victim, then a Class IX student aged about 14 years, had gone with his friends to search for a missing boy near Vihar Lake on October 16, 2013. The prosecution alleged ...