On Wednesday, November 2, a POCSO court in Uttar Pradesh’s Pratapgarh district awarded death sentences to two convicts- Haleem and Rizwan for the kidnapping and brutal rape of a minor girl. Court noted that Haleem and Rizwan not only gang-raped the minor but also intentionally caused such injuries that made her physically and mentally handicapped.
Additional District Sessions Judge of the POCSO Court Pankaj Kumar Srivastava also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 each on the accused Haleem, an auto mechanic and Rizwan, who is a tailor by profession.
A UP Court gives death penalty to two, an auto mechanic and a tailor, in minor’s #gangrape case.
— LawBeat (@LawBeatInd) November 4, 2022
Court noted that Haleem and Rizwan, the accused persons, not only gang-raped the #minor but also intentionally caused such injuries that made her physically & mentally handicapped. pic.twitter.com/nCrxjlbGop
While pronouncing the verdict the court referred to the accused as ‘male vampires’ and observed that they not only forcibly entered into the temple-like body of the minor girl but also tried to demolish the same.
Pankaj Kumar Srivastava, Additional District and Session Judge/Rape and POCSO Court Judge, found them guilty on October 21 after concluding that the case fell into the rarest of rare categories because the accused not only gang-raped the minor girl but also injured her by selectively damaging her body parts.
The convicts were found to have injured the victim on her head, face, and legs following the gang rape, and the injuries were such that her face was distorted, she lost her left eye, and her legs were fractured. Following that, the inmates abandoned the victim along railway lines.
Appalled at the heinous nature of the crime, the court said, “It appears that the accused considered the victim an animal. The brutal cowardly act that the accused committed with the victim and the way they treated her afterwards, no one even treats an animal in such manner.”
Court added, “People treat animals with respect but in the present case, the accused did not even consider the victim worthy that other than rape, no such physical harm should be done to her so that her life would be ruined and she would be scared of looking at her own face in the mirror”.
“It is a strange irony that in our country where Durga is worshipped in the form of Shakti, Maa Saraswati is worshipped for education and Maa Lakshmi is worshipped for wealth, in such a county, an incident like this happens. This puts a question mark on the whole of society…If these cruel lustful persons are not punished severely in society, then every parent will cry when a daughter is born to them and even if they somehow manage to bring her up, they will be in constant fear that at any moment such a lustful monster can make their daughter his victim,” the court observed.
As a result, given the horrific nature of the offence, the court sentenced the accused under Sections 5 (g)/6 of the POCSO Act (death penalty) rather than Section 376 DA of the IPC. The court observed that because the accused’s crime was punishable under both Sections but the sentence under Section 376DA, IPC was less severe, the prisoners deserved to be punished under Section 42, POCSO Act.
According to Joint Director of Prosecution Havaldar Singh, the girl’s brother filed a complaint against unknown persons in Nawabganj police station on December 30, 2021, alleging that his sister went to the village shop on December 27 when the accused kidnapped her and took her to the nearby railway track, where they raped her.
According to the FIR, the accused hit the minor girl on the head, breaking the head bone The accused also stabbed her in the eye, inflicting blindness, and left her unconscious on the railway track and fled. Her leg had also been broken.
She was taken to Kalakankar Community Health Center, where doctors referred her to SRN Medical College hospital due to her critical condition.
Five days later, when the victim regained consciousness, she named her three culprits: Aman alias Qasim, Rizwan, and Haleem.
Joint Director of Prosecution Havaldar Singh went on to say that police had filed a case against the accused under relevant provisions and had given the charge sheet in court. Since Aman was found to be a minor, his case was referred to a juvenile court.
Meanwhile, after hearing the arguments of both sides, the court found the two accused guilty on the basis of evidence and sentenced Haleem alias Kharbar and Rizwan to death.
