Man gets 14-year rigorous imprisonment in POCSO case: Kalimpong

The court order dated 19 March 2024 stated that the fine amount if recovered be handed over to the victim girl

KalimNews, Kalimpong, 22 March 2024 : An accused in a case of repeated rape to a minor girl of 12 years is convicted by a special court of Kalimpong. Ashit Oraon is sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment (R.I) for a period of Fourteen years as well as a fine to the extent of a sum of Rs. twenty thousand to meet the medical expenses and rehabilitation of the victim girl. In default of payment of fine the convict shall further suffer R.I for a period of six months for the offence under section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. The court order dated 19 March 2024 stated that the fine amount if recovered be handed over to the victim girl.

As per the police and the court order, the victim girl was raped by one Ashit Oraon (19) on three occasions during 2019 and Oraon was arrested after his mother lodged a complaint at a local police station on 17.05.2019. 

During the investigation it was told by the victim and her mother that in the month of March 2019, one Ashit Oraon came to the house of the victim when nobody was at home and the accused forcefully dragged the victim girl to his house and locked the room from inside and then tied her both the hands with rope, gagged her mouth with the cloth and raped her forcibly. He threatened her to face dire consequences if she dares to narrate the incident to anybody. After the incident the injured girl went to her house but couldnot dare to tell about the incident to anybody including her mother. 

After 2 days of the incident in the similar manner she was raped for the second time. On the third time while the girl was playing on the road the accused came and dragged her to a nearby tea garden and raped her again. She couldnot bear the trauma so she narrated the whole episode of her misery to her mother and then her mother brought this to the notice of a local tribal Samaj which didnot take any suitable step which forced her to lodge a written complaint to the police.

The police examined the school going tribal girl of a tea garden and arrested the accused under section 6 of POCSO Act, 2012 and since then he was in jail custody. The case was started against the accused under section 207 of the Cr.P.C. and as many as 17 witnesses including some members of an active NGO were examined and cross examined by the court.

Chandra Bahadur Bhujel SI of the police station was the investigating officer of the case no. 19/19 dated 17.05.2019 u/s 6 of POCSO Act, he investigated the case and proceeded as per the direction of the learned judicial magistrate and submitted the charge sheet bearing No. 27/19 dated 11.07.2019 for the offence u/s 6 of POCSO Act against the accused.

The court found the accused guilty of the crime and ordered the sentence in view of the provision of section 6 of The POCSO Act, 2012 so that nobody dares to commit similar type of offence in the society.