India, Dec. 7 -- A 56-year-old man who spent eight years behind bars on charges of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl with intellectual disabilities has been acquitted by a special POCSO court in Maharashtra's Mumbai, which found glaring gaps in the prosecution's case.

Special Judge ND Khose, delivering the verdict, observed that the prosecution failed to establish even the "basic foundational facts" necessary to support the allegations, reported The Times of India on Sunday. The court pointed to major discrepancies regarding the girl's age, questions about her cognitive abilities, and contradictions between her statements and the medical evidence.

"To my mind, evidence adduced by the prosecution is scanty and not sufficient to prov...