Ahmedabad: School bus driver sentenced for life for rape of KG student

A sessions court in the city sent a 23-year-old youth to life imprisonment for the rape of a 4 year old student of kindergarten. The accused Pratik Joshi, a resident of Odhav, had molested the child. 

Nilesh Lodha, additional public prosecutor said that the convict first denied that he had indulged in any such act. “He told the court that the girl might have fallen down and that is how she might have been injured her private parts,” said Lodha. The prosecution however over 17 documents and 14 witnesses to prove their case.

The convict had in 2014 taken the child out of her school bus in Isanpur. He had then taken her to a lane and had molested her with his fingers resulting in injury to the child in her private parts.

The court convicted Joshi under the POCSO act. The matter came to light after the parents of the child found her bleeding and registered a complaint. The convict had in his defense argued that since both his kidneys were not functioning he was not in a position to harm anyone let alone molest a child. The court also relied on medical evidence to arrive at its verdict.