India, Sept. 27 -- A Special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court in Pune on Thursday acquitted a 20-year-old labourer accused of stalking a 16-year-old girl and committing rape and sexual assault, holding that the prosecution failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt.

Special Judge DS Deshmukh said the evidence of the two key prosecution witnesses-the girl and her mother-did not support the prosecution case. The court held that the foundational facts required to invoke the presumptions under Sections 29 and 30 of the POCSO Act had not been established.

The accused, Sohel Imamsab Gadad, was facing trial in a case registered at Koregaon Park Police Station. He was charged under Sections 354(d)(2) and 376 of...