A 41-year-old man convicted of raping a minor girl in 2016 was sentenced to 14 years' rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 25,000 only under section 4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), 2012 by Special Judge POCSO, Churachandpur on Thursday.
The court on Tuesday convicted the accused under section 4 of POCSO Act on charges of sexual assault on a 10-year-old girl in 2016.
The investigating officer of the case found that the accused is an uncle of the minor who stayed with him in the same house. It was stated that the minor was raped by her uncle at their residence when her other family members were all out for work, by taking advantage of the situation. It was also learnt that the accused had instructed the victim to lie that she had been raped by some unknown persons at the cemetery at New Lamka.
The investigating officer of the case filed the charge sheet against the accused before the court and framed charges against the accused for having committed the offences punishable under section 376 IPC and Section 4 and 8 of POCSO Act on March 29, 2019 to which he pleaded not guilty, and claimed trial.
During the sentence hearing, the additional public prosecutor submitted that the accused is convicted under section 4 of POCSO Act, 2012 for committing penetrative sexual assault upon the minor victim girl.
The additional public prosecutor also submitted that the crime committed by the accused is a serious offence and prayed for maximum sentence of life imprisonment with fine for committing the offence.
The counsel of the accused contended that the accused is a person having no previous criminal antecedent and in fact a good person as he helped the minor victim to be admitted at District Hospital, Churachandpur with his wife. Submitting that there is no evidence of bad moral character of the accused in the past, the counsel prayed for awarding the minimum sentence under Section 4 of POCSO Act.
The court after hearing the submission from both, announced the sentence of 14 years rigorous imprisonment of the accused with fine.
The period for which the accused has already undergone judicial custody during the period of investigation as well as during the trial, if any, will be set off from the sentence awarded, the court announced.
The court also recommended providing compensation of Rs 5,00,000 only to the victim under the Manipur Victim Compensation Scheme, 2019 as per section 2 of POCSO Act as well as under section 357A of the Code of Criminal Procedure to the Victim.
