Minor girl’s attacker sentenced to 10-year RI by Arunachal court

OUR CORRESPONDENT

ITANAGAR: A special POCSO court in Arunachal Pradesh has sentenced one Sarul Jamal (27), to ten years of rigorous imprisonment for attempting to rape a minor girl in 2022.

The sentence was delivered by special judge (POCSO) Dr Hirendra Kashyap, under section 376(3)/511 of the IPC read with section 4(2)/18 of the POCSO Act.

The convict was also fined Rs 10,000, with a provision of one month of simple imprisonment in case of default.

The incident occurred on September 5, 2022, when the victim, a schoolgirl, was returning home after Teacher’s Day celebration.  The case was initially registered under sections 354/34 of the IPC and section 8 of the POCSO Act and was assigned to SI D Pakam for investigation.

Upon further investigation and trial, the court established that while the crime constituted an attempt and not completed rape, the punishment would be half of the maximum prescribed sentence for the offence.

During the hearing, the defence pleaded for leniency, arguing that the convict was a first-time offender, 24 years old at the time, and the sole earning member for his elderly parents. However, the court held that the nature of the offence demanded an appropriate sentence to reflect the seriousness of the act.

Special public prosecutor Kagam Bagra contended that the attempted rape of a minor was a grave and heinous crime deserving of the strictest punishment. The court concurred, stating in its judgment that the gravity of the offence outweighed the mitigating factors.

Jamal, who had been in judicial custody since his arrest in September 2022, was granted the benefit of set-off under Section 428 CrPC for the 2 years, 7 months, and 25 days he had already spent in custody.

The court directed that the Papum Pare district legal services authority (DLSA), provide compensation to the victim under the Arunachal Pradesh Victim Compensation Scheme, 2011. Copies of the judgment and order were also sent to the Itanagar district magistrate and superintendent of police, Itanagar.

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