India, Aug. 8 -- A special POCSO (Protection of Children against Sexual Offences) Court in Pimpri-Chinchwad has sentenced a 33-year-old labourer to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment (RI) for attempting to rape a 12-year-old girl, holding that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and that the accused had failed to rebut the statutory presumption under the POCSO Act. A copy of the judgment was made available on August 6.

Special POCSO judge S S Nair convicted Mohan Chinappa alias Kenchappa Kurhade under section 4 read with section 18 of the POCSO Act and sentenced him to RI for 10 years along with a fine of Rs.25,000. If he defaults on payment of the fine, he will undergo an additional year of RI. The court also extend...