POCSO court sentences man to 10 years for raping minor

Amitava Banerjee | MP | 19 Sep 2018 | Darjeeling: A Special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Court in Darjeeling convicted a 30-year-old man for abducting, confining and raping a 14-year-old girl. 

Muhammad Azad was charged under Sections 363 and 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing a woman to compel her marriage) of the Indian Penal Code, along with Sections of the POCSO Act. 

Judge Biswaroop Bandhopadhyay awarded Azad 10 years of rigorous imprisonment. 

On February 13, 2016, the victim had gone out on the day of Saraswati Puja. There she had met Azad who was known to her. Azad invited her to have a cup of tea and took her to a relative's house. There he had offered her a chocolate bar, after consumed which the victim fainted. When she regained her senses, she found out that she was in a house at Samastipur, Bihar. There, she was forcefully confined in the house and sexually abused. 

Meanwhile, the victim's parents had lodged a missing complaint at the local police station. Investigations led police to Shamastipur, where the victim was rescued and handed over to her guardians. Azad was arrested as well. 

The chargesheet was filed on April 25, 2016 and 8 witnesses were examined in the case. 

"This was a landmark judgment as for the first time in such a case, the victim has been compensated. She will be receiving Rs 3 lakh from the state government, through the District Legal Services Authority," stated Pranay Rai, Public Prosecutor. 

"Darjeeling has a high rate of conviction. This year alone, 33 convictions have been awarded," added Rai.