The man, however, was acquitted of stalking the woman
Mumbai: A magistrate court in Girgaum convicted and sentenced a 27-year-old man to one month of simple imprisonment for exposing himself to a woman outside her apartment in south Mumbai in 2019. He was also fined Rs 10,000. the court noted the seriousness of the offence but also considered that he was a first-time offender, had clean antecedents, was 20 at the time of the crime, and that years had since passed While sentencing Walmik.
However, the court said the evidence did not establish that Walmik had followed her to the sixth floor and, therefore, the stalking charge was not proved.
His lawyer said there was a delay in lodging the FIR and that the complaint appeared to be an afterthought. The court held the accused, Sajankumar Walmik, guilty of insulting the woman’s modesty, but acquitted him of stalking after finding that the prosecution did not prove he had followed her. The woman first went to the flat of the housing society’s secretary and confided in his wife. Later, after a doctor’s appointment, she went to Malabar Hill police with society members and lodged a complaint. Walmik, whose father worked as a sweeper in the building, was identified at the police station. Walmik claimed that he was falsely implicated. The court rejected these, noting that there was no material to suggest prior enmity or any reason for the woman to falsely implicate Walmik. The magistrate observed that the woman’s testimony inspired confidence and there was nothing in her cross-examination to doubt its truthfulness.