MUMBAI, Nov. 16 -- A special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Court on Friday sentenced a 55-year-old man to 10 years rigorous imprisonment for repeatedly sexually assaulting his relative, who was 15 at the time, ruling that the prosecution had proved the allegations "beyond a reasonable doubt". While convicting the accused, special Judge P N Rao reiterated that the credible testimony of a survivor of sexual assault does not require independent corroboration. According to the judgment, which was made available on Saturday, the most serious assault on the survivor took place on February 26, 2018, when the child's mother was undergoing dialysis at a hospital and her father was away in Gujarat. The accused entered the house, disrobed the girl, and sexually assaulted her. He then threatened to kill her parents if she informed anyone about the incident. Based on the victim's school record, the court accepted her year of birth as 2003, confirming she was 15 at the time of the assault. It noted that the survivor had also accurately described earlier incidents in which the man followed her on the way to school, visited the family's earlier residence, and touched her inappropriately. These incidents continued even after the family shifted to a different locality, it noted. The court also took note of the physical evidence, including a torn green salwar that was seized in February 2018. Although the defence raised discrepancies in the case, the judge held that they were "minor" and did not amount to any material contradiction. The court said such variations were expected, given the victim's age and the time lapse between the events and her testimony. The defence also contended that the case arose from a financial dispute of Rs.85,000 between the victim's family and the accused. The court called it "vague" and held that the accused's income made it unlikely that he had such funds to lend. Judge Rao held that the defence had "not made out any probable case", and rejected the theory of false implication. The accused was sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment, and fined Rs.20,000 to be paid to the survivor as compensation....