Rape accused convicted under POCSOA; gets 10 yrs
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, March 24 2015:
A rape accused was convicted and awarded 10 years of rigorous imprisonment on Tuesday by a court here under section 354 IPC and section 6 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSOA) .
A Guneshwar Sharma, Special Judge (POCSO), Manipur East announced the quantum of sentence for Golmei alias Boy (29), son of late Pantiphun Golmei of Ramji Khun, Tera Makha in Imphal West, with the landmark sentence being the first ever to be given to a rapist under POCSOA in Manipur.
The minimum punishment prescribed for the offence under section 6 POCSOA is 10 years which may extend to imprisonment for life with fine.
Special Public Prosecutor Th Bimola Devi prayed for awarding the maximum punishment to the convict as prescribed under section 6 POCSOA since no leniency ought to be shown to rapist Golmei who had sexually assaulted a minor girl aged about 5 years.
She said such a punishment would send out a clear message to the society that court would not tolerate with any person who has sexually assaulted minors.
The Judge announced that taking into consideration the convict suffering from cancer and his past antecedent, the convict is directed to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 10 years with a fine of Rs 25,000 in default of which shall run concurrently.
M Birbal Singh, the counsel for the convict submitted that the convict has no past criminal record and has a clean image.
He said the convict is also the sole bread earner of a poor family and moreover he is suffering from cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy.
He prayed that his client may be sentenced to undergo imprisonment for the period already undergone as an under trial prisoner.
The court further directed the State Government to pay Rs 2 lakh as compensation to the minor rape victim within a period of 30 days from the receiving of such orders of awarding compensation from any of its funds or schemes of otherwise under Rule 7 (4) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Rules, 2012 .
Further, the Court directed that in view of the illness of the convict of suffering from cancer and is presently undergoing chemotherapy the jail authority should facilitate his treatment.