Man awarded 12-yr jail in POCSO case

Chandigarh, September 17

Swati Sehgal, Special Judge, Fast Track Court, Chandigarh, has sentenced a 42-year-old man to undergo 12 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) after convicting him in a POCSO case. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 60,000 on the convict.

The police registered a case on a complaint of the Superintendent of the Snehalaya for Girls, Sector 15, Chandigarh, on November 11, 2018. In the complaint, the Superintendent said the victim, aged 12 years, told that a person, who was having an affair with her mother, raped her several times in her mother’s absence. The victim was admitted to the Snehalaya on October 10, 2018.

She alleged that the accused used to visit her house every alternative day to meet her mother. Whenever her mother, who worked in a candle-making factory, was not at home, the accused used to rape her. Whenever she resisted, he used to beat her.

The police registered a case for the commission of offences punishable under Sections 376 (2) (n) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act – 2012 against the accused who was already in the jail in connection with a murder case.

An identification parade was conducted within the jail premises. After the completion of investigation, a challan was presented against the accused before the court.

Manan Bhardwaj, counsel for the accused, said he was falsely implicated in the case. Manan argued that the complaint against the accused was given after three years of the alleged incident. There were contradictions in the statements of the victim also. Nothing came out against the accused in the medical and other reports. There was a personal rivalry between the accused and the victim’s father.

The public prosecutor said the prosecution had proved the case beyond the shadow of doubt.

After hearing the arguments, the court

convicted the accused while observing that “The convict has committed a heinous offence of ravishing a minor victim and it calls for no leniency. Rather, he should be punished sternly.”