Itanagar: A special court in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tirap district designated under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) on Monday sentenced a man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting a minor girl.
The court convicted one Unilye Chakma alias Anil Kumar Chakma, a native of Diyun Village in Changlang district under Section 06 of the POCSO Act for ‘aggravated penetrative sexual assault’ on the minor.
Officials said the incident took place on July 27 last, 2020 when the 9-year-old victim went to a nearby shop to purchase biscuits.
The accused, who was intoxicated, forcefully dragged the girl to a nearby bamboo grove where he committed the forceful sexual intercourse with the girl. The incident was witnessed by a passerby who informed the matter to the victim’s mother. The mother who rushed to the place of occurrence also witnessed the accused committing forceful intercourse with the victim. When she raised hue and cry, the accused left the victim and fled away, officials said.
An FIR was accordingly lodged at the Diyun police station and a team of police personnel led by inspector P K Kalita apprehended the accused and later filed a charge sheet.
Khonsa Special Judge (POCSO) H Kashyap expeditiously completed the trial and convicted Chakma for his offense.
Besides announcing the imprisonment, the court also directed the convict to pay a certain amount as fine.
The Khonsa court has further referred the matter to the Changlang district legal services authority for providing adequate compensation to the victim under the Arunachal Pradesh Victim Compensation Scheme, 2011.
