6 gang rape accused remanded to police custody
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, April 19 2017: Seven persons including a juvenile who are accused of raping two underaged girls were produced before the Special Court of POCSO Imphal East today.

The Court remanded the accused excluding the juvenile to police custody for seven days till April 25 .

The juvenile has been sent to Observation Home Takyelpat.

According to sources, the seven persons accused of raping two underaged girls on April 14 night were pulled up by Imphal East district police on April 18 after the incident came to light on April 17 .

One of the accused has been identified as Thongam Sadananda (22) s/o (L) Shamu Singh of Moirang Kampu.

The remaining accused including the juvenile hail from Khurai.

They were produced before the Court under FIR number 15 (4) 2017 Women police station Imphal East under Section 376 (D)/120 (B)/363/34 of Indian Penal Code and Section 6 of POCSO Act, 2012 .

Perusing the remand prayer, the Court found prima facie material for allowing the prayer of Investigation Officer of the case.

Interestingly, all the accused except Sadananda are claiming themselves as juveniles.

Meanwhile, a remand objection was filed by father of one of the accused in the Court claiming his son to be a juvenile.

The remand objection was accompanied by photocopies of birth certificate, provisional certificate and student identity card of the accused.

The Court took up the application along with the remand prayer for consideration.

The photocopies of the annexed documents were compared with the originals and on verification, the accused deemed to be a juvenile.

No documents were produced before the Court by the remaining five accused.

Considering the consequences pertaining to the case, the Court directed the Investigation Officer to inform family members of the accused who claimed themselves as juveniles to produce relevant documents in support of their claim.

One of the accused submitted before the Court that he have to appear computer science paper for Class XI examination on April 20 and practical on April 26 .

Acting on his plea, the Court directed the IO to make necessary arrangement to facilitate the accused in appearing in the examination if the accused and his parents desire to do so.

After hearing all the submissions, the Court remanded the six accused to police custody till April 25. It also asked the IO to produce the juvenile before Juvenile Justice Board Imphal East today itself.

According to a reliable source, the incident of gang rape took place on April 14 night when two underage girls along with a friend who were going to attend a "Thabal Chongba" on a two-wheeler moped somewhere in Imphal East district were stopped by the seven accused persons.

They beat the friend, dragged them inside a Maruti Alto car and took them near a foothill at Kangla Sagolsang where the two underage girls were allegedly raped.

The source said the incident was reported by the victims to one of the influential organisations for ensuring justice on April 15 but the organisation informed the police about the incident only on April 17 .

All the accused were picked up from their residences yesterday.

Medical test of the accused and the two victims was conducted at Forensic Medical Science, JNIMS.

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