Thane, Nov 23 (PTI) A Thane court has sentenced a man to three years rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting a minor girl in 2017, noting that such offences must be dealt with sternly to send a clear message to society.

Additional Sessions Judge D S Deshmukh, in the judgment on Friday, convicted the 38-year-old man of various offences under the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The judge, while announcing the sentence, took a "lenient view", considering the family background of the accused, as he prayed that he had no criminal antecedents and nobody was there to look after his family.

The incident occurred on October 24, 2017, when the victim, then aged 12, was alone in the lift of a residential complex in the Mira Road area of Maha

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