Jail for two Britons in paedophilia case
Mumbai:
Duncan Grant and Allan Waters, the two British nationals accused of
paedophilia in the Goan Anchorage Shelter case, have been sentenced to
six years rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 15,55,031 (35,000 dollars)
each by Sessions Judge P S Paranjpe here on Saturday. Another co-accused,
an Indian, Willyam Micheal D'Souza has been awarded three years imprisonment
and Rs. 6,100, (113dollars) fine by the judge. Sessions Court Judge P.S.
Paranjape handed down guilty verdicts against Duncan Grant, a charity
worker, and fellow Briton Allan Waters, who were charged with child sex
abuse and engaging in unnatural acts with children. They have been found
guilty under Sections 373, 374 and 377 of the IPC, which deals with kidnapping
for sexual abuse and unnatural sexual acts. Judge Paranjape also found
an Indian, William D'souza, who managed the home, guilty of aiding and
abetting the crime. "The convictions should deter paedophiles from believing
poor Indian children were easy prey," said Paranjape. Adding further he
said that the amounts of the fine to be collected from the accused trio
are proposed to be used for the rehabilitation of the two minor boys who
gave evidence in the case. A portion of the funds will also be used for
upliftment of the children of the Anchorage Shelter through a committee
proposed to be headed by advocate Mahrukh Adenwalla, who first investigated,
highlighted the matter and filed the case Later soon after the verdict
Maharukh Edenwala said, "That the reason for passing this verdict was
to send a very clear message to society that he wanted to wipe India off
the map of sex tourism and I think that is what he did. A clear message
that you can't come into the country either from outside or even within
the country, sexually abuse our children and think you can get away with
it, it is going to be looked at very strictly and very stringently." Earlier
today in the court Lawyer Majeed Memon, who represents both men, asked
the court to consider the ages of both men when considering jail terms.
He also asked the court to consider that no recent cases of abuse had
been registered against either man. Talking to the reporters soon after
the verdict Advocate Memon said that he bowed before the verdict of the
court. Duncan Grant and Allan John Waters were found guilty of indulging
in "unnatural offences" and "using the custody of a minor for immoral
purposes", Memon added. Substantive sentence awarded to Duncan Grant and
Allan Waters is six years. It would run concurrently for one or two offences
but in all it is amounting to six years minus the period already undergone,"
said Memon. However, prosecutor Vijay Nahar argued that the men had betrayed
the boys who respected them. "The boys referred to the men as 'father.'
Both Grant and Waters betrayed the trust of these boys," said Nahar. Nahar
earlier said D'souza thrashed the boys in the shelter after they were
abused in order to browbeat them and prevent them from complaining to
other social workers or the police. Grant, 61, has been in police custody
since last June when he arrived from London and formally surrendered before
a Bombay court on the advice of his lawyers. Police had issued an international
warrant in April 2002, seeking his arrest. A 2001 police report charged
him and Waters with sodomy and sexually abusing boys at a home Grant set
up for street children in Bombay. Grant, who also ran children's charities
in Tanzania, was arrested two years ago in Dar es Salaam on the international
warrant. He faced child-abuse allegations even in Tanzania (where he had
set up similar shelter house) and he was deported to Britain. He returned
to India in June 2005 and surrendered before the police. Waters, 58, was
arrested at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport three years
ago on the basis of an Interpol arrest warrant, and extradited from the
United States to face charges in India. Grant opened Anchorage, a home
for street children aged 8 to 18, in downtown Bombay in 1995. Police say
Waters was a regular visitor. Police launched an investigation after receiving
a complaint from a 15-year-old boy about repeated sexual and physical
abuse by Grant and Waters. Four other boys also made similar complaints.
According to police, Grant and Waters had fled Mumbai after the alleged
offences were reported.
- Mar 18, 2006
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