After 21 years, a man has been convicted for raping a minor in 2001 in Imphal West district under Lamsang police station. The Additional Session Judge (FTC), Crime Against Women, on Monday sentenced the convict to 12 years of rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 1,00,000.
Monalisa Maibam, Additional Session Judge, Fast Track Court, Crime against Women, on October 31, 2022 convicted 48-year-old Usham Roben and fixed sentence hearing on November 9. Usham Roben, son of Nabachandra of Taothong Ayungba, who appeared before the court on bail, appeared for the judgment order on October 31 after it was kept reserved since the final hearing of the case on October 6.
A case was registered against Usham Roben after information was received by Lamsang Police regarding the rape of one minor girl on August 14, 2001. After the completion of the investigation, the IO of the case submitted a charge sheet against the convict before the Court of Session Judge, Imphal West in 2016. Later, the case was transferred from Session Judge, Imphal West to Additional Session Judge, Fast track Court Crime against Women.
During the sentence hearing, counsel for the convict said that the convict has no prior criminal antecedent and has no other cases pending against him. It is also submitted that the convict is the sole bread earner of the family with two (2) sons (aged about 17 and 19 years old) with an old aged mother.
The court, after perusal of materials on records and other relevant considerations, sentenced the convict to undergo rigorous imprisonment (RI) for a period of 12 years and to pay a fine of Rs 1 lakh.
The amount of fine shall be wholly applied in the payment to the victim as compensation to her loss or injury caused by the offence as allowed under Section 357 CrPC, the court said.
The court ascertained that the convict had undergone detention for a period of 116 (One hundred and sixteen days) from December 10, 2001 till April 5, 2002 during the stage of investigation of the case and before the date of conviction and as such, as allowed under section 428 CrPC, the period of detention shall be set off as against the term of imprisonment imposed on him on conviction and he shall be liable to undergo rigorous imprisonment for the remainder of the term of imprisonment imposed on him.
