A special POCSO court in Muzaffarnagar has sentenced a rape accused to life in jail along with a fine of Rs 50,000 which will be given as compensation to the 8-year-old victim.
On 23rd September, a case came to light about a madrasa teacher in Buldhana, identified as Hafiz Irfan, raping a minor girl who used to take classes there.
Hafiz Irfan took the victim to another room on the pretext of cleaning it when she arrived at the madrasa. The accused raped the minor girl until she fell unconscious. Subsequently, he fled the spot assuming that the girl had died.
After regaining consciousness, the victim somehow went back to her home in a bloodied state and narrated her ordeal to her sister and other family members.
The matter pertains to the Bhasana village under the Budhana police station where the minor girl studied at the Noorjahan Masjid madrasa in the Safipur Patti area.
After the victim informed her family about the heinous deed of Hafiz Irfan, the minor victim’s family members reached the police station and lodged a complaint against the accused. Subsequently, the police registered a case against the accused madrasa teacher under section 376 of the IPC and POCSO Act. The police had filed the chargesheet in the case in just 13 days.
40 days on, the allegations against the accused were proven on 20th November. The court had taken cognisance of the matter on 11th October. The judge while pronouncing the judgment said that if such a crime is committed against a student in an academic institution, then society will never be able to send girls to such institutions for education.
The court also mentioned that such incidents spark distrust against teachers among the masses. The court said that any lenient attitude towards such incidents will send the wrong message and sentenced Hafiz Irfan to life imprisonment.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, the Muzaffarnagar police said that the judgment was pronounced by the court based on the evidence provided by the police. “The accused who raped a minor girl was sentenced to life imprisonment and a fine – The Honorable Court awarded the punishment after Muzaffarnagar Police collected evidence and did a quality investigation and under the guidance of the prosecution.”