Itanagar: A special court in Khonsa designated under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), on Thursday, sentenced two individuals to 5 years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl.
The two people, namely, Sunil Soy (33) and Binod Kaur (25), were convicted under Section 10 of the POSCO Act for ‘aggravated sexual assault’ on the minor.
It was alleged that when the victim along with her younger sister took their goats for grazing in a jungle near their house, the convicts lured the victim by giving her chocolate and took her to their camp. The men then forcefully gagged the victim, disrobed her and sexually assaulted her, officials said.
The entire incident was witnessed by the victim’s younger sister who was later given Rs 120 by the convicts to not disclose the incident to anyone. She was also threatened with dire consequences if she did the same, officials said.
The victim and her sister later disclosed the incident to their parents following which an FIR was lodged against the two miscreants by the victim’s father at the Jairampur police station.
Also read: Arunachal: Man sentenced to 20 years for molesting minor
A charge sheet was accordingly filed against the two by the Jairampur police which then led to the prosecution.
During the trials, it was found that though there was no penetration amounting to rape, it was proved before the Court that the accused had committed the crime of sexual assault on a minor.
Accordingly, Special Judge (POCSO) H Kashyap convicted the two accused under Section 10 of the POCSO Act and sentenced them to imprisonment for five years.
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.
This is notably the second case of the Khonsa POSCO court sentencing a person to imprisonment for molesting a minor in 10 days.
The court, on March 15, had sentenced one Topha Wangshu to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for allegedly molesting a 15-year-old girl.
