Teen gets life term for raping five-year-old

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, January 24

A special POCSO court sentenced a youth to life imprisonment and also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 for raping a five-year-old girl in May last year. He was convicted under Sections 376A and 302, IPC, and Section 6, POCSO Act, by the court of Additional Sessions Judge Narender Sura. The accused was 16 years and 10 months old when he had committed the offence.

Pankaj Garg, District Attorney, Panchkula, said, “The accused was awarded life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 30,000 was imposed upon him under Section 302, IPC, 20 years and a fine of Rs 10,000 under Section 376A, IPC, 20 years and a fine of Rs 10,000 under Section 6, POCSO Act.”

The court convicted the accused in connection with the case on Saturday.

In May last year, a five-year-old girl was raped and murdered in broad daylight at vacant plot, near a private school, in Sector 14, Panchkula.

The incident had come to the light around 2 pm after parents of the girl started searching for her and found her body lying at an empty plot covered by an eight feet wall.

The accused had killed the girl after smashing her head with a brick. The accused was victim’s neighbour. He resided in a shanty at the victim’s locality. The accused had taken away the victim on the pretext of ‘Kanya Poojan’. The victim’s father was a painter and had shifted to Panchkula from his village one year ago.

Trial as an adult

At the time of arguments on charge, the defence counsel raised question about the age of the accused. Subsequently, the case was sent to Juvenile Justice Board, Panchkula, for conducting further proceedings.

The Juvenile Justice Board had then conducted a preliminary assessment of the accused as per Section 15 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, and had passed an order. The order states: “The juvenile has enough mental and physical capacity to commit the offence and has the ability to understand the consequences of the act. Therefore, this board feels there is a need of trial of the juvenile as an adult.”

Appreciation for Panchkula DCP

In its judgement, the court also appreciated the efforts of Kamal Deep Goyal, DCP, Panchkula, as he had reached the spot immediately after getting information about the crime and supervised the proceedings. The DCP personally summoned the in-charge on the crime scene and collected substantive evidence.

Judgment after

eight months

The heinous crime was committed on May 13 last year and the court announced the judgment after eight months. The court had framed charges against the accused in November last year.

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