Itanagar: A special court in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tirap district designated under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) on Wednesday sentenced a man to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting a minor girl.
The court convicted one Rangpha Rankham (24), a native of Chanu Village in Longding district, under Section 04 of the POSCO Act for ‘penetrative sexual assault’ on the minor.
Officials said the incident took place near the Second Nallah area in Longding district on May 03, 2019 when Rankham forcefully dragged the victim in his car and raped her.
After raping the girl, the accused threw her out of the car and fled.
The victim then called her friend who later came to pick her up and dropped her home.
An FIR was lodged by the victim’s brother the next day and a case under section 363/376 (2) (i) of the Indian Penal Code read with Section 04 of the POCSO Act was registered against Rankham at the Longding police station.
Sub-inspector J Wangsa investigated the case and later filed a chargesheet.
The trial that followed later saw Khonsa special Judge (POCSO) H Kashyap convict Rankham for his offence and sentence him to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment. He has also been ordered to pay a fine by the court.
The Khonsa court has further referred the matter to the Longding district legal services authority for providing rehabilitation and adequate compensation to the victim under the Arunachal Pradesh Victim Compensation Scheme, 2011.
