First Conviction In 2021 West Bengal Post-Poll Violence; Man Sentenced To Life For Rape Of 9-Year-Old Girl
The Court observed that the accused had committed a heinous crime and there was no reason to deal with the matter leniently, while recommending Rs. 3 lakh compensation to the victim.
In a case arising from the post-poll violence in West Bengal following the 2021 Assembly Elections, a Special POCSO Court in Malda has convicted and sentenced a 64-year-old man to rigorous imprisonment for life till the remainder of his natural life for the rape of a 9-year-old child. The Court held that the accused committed the offence punishable under Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
Notably, this is the first conviction in the 2021 post-poll violence cases from West Bengal and the investigation was conducted by the CBI.
Rajib Saha, Special Judge (Malda) held, “The accused person is not entitled to get any lenient view from this Court in the matter of sentence as the child was aged about 9 years at the time of commission of offence and the accused person is a matured person and he has committed the offence upon a minor child in a planned way. The accused person committed heinous crime and there is no reason to dealt with the matter leniently.”
Special Public Prosecutor Amitava Maitra appeared for the CBI, while the Accused was represented by Advocate Goutam Mukherjee.
Brief Facts
The accused argued that the case is not connected to Post Poll violence, "but actually the instant case has been hatched up out of political grievances particularly when the accused was a supporter of Trinamul Congress Party and the family members of the victim girl were the strong contenders in the area under the support of Bharatiyo Janata Party".
The incident took place on June 4, 2021, when the minor victim was playing near a mango orchard adjacent to the Accused’s house. The accused lured the child inside under the pretext of giving her money, locked the door, and sexually assaulted her, applying Vaseline during the act. The victim’s elder cousin witnessed the incident and informed the mother. Initially, the child did not disclose the incident, but later revealed the details to her mother.
The police registered a case under Section 6 of the POCSO Act and arrested the Accused. The CBI took over the investigation pursuant to a Calcutta High Court order in a batch of writ petitions concerning post-poll violence. The supplementary chargesheet filed by the CBI included Sections 6 of POCSO, 376AB IPC, and 3(2)(v) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. However, the Court found that the caste-based atrocity charge was not proved.
The Accused contended that he was falsely implicated and pointed to alleged contradictions and anomalies in the investigation, especially due to the case being investigated first by the state police and then by the CBI.
The CBI argued that the minor victim had narrated the incident in her evidence before the Court, and her version had been corroborated by her statement recorded by the Magistrate under Section 164 CrPC. The prosecution further emphasized that the elder cousin, who was also playing nearby, had also stated the fact as eye eyewitness to the incident.
Reasoning of the Court
The Court found that the evidence of the mother, elder aunt, and grandmother of the child further supported the prosecution’s version. The Court recorded, “There is nothing to disbelieve the child and her elder cousin who have been produced before this Court as PW.1 and 2, furthermore the prosecution fact has been brought before this Court more clearly by the mother, jethima (elder-aunt), and grandmother of the child who have been examined as P.W.3, P.W.4 and P.W.5 respectively.”
Adverting to the medical evidence, the Court observed, “It is the contention of the Ld. Special P.P that evidence of P.W.11 i.e. aunt (kakima) and evidence of the examining doctor at Malda Medical College & Hospital namely, Dr. Arpita Singh are equally relevant to consider the guilt of the accused in committing the alleged crime of rape upon the minor.”
The Court also noted that the medical examination was conducted in accordance with Section 27 of the POCSO Act, which mandates examination by a female doctor.
The prosecution also pointed out that the use of Vaseline was specifically mentioned in both the FIR and the child’s evidence, further supporting the occurrence of the offence. The Court, quoting the argument, noted, “It has further been argued that the accused has applied Vaseline which has been specifically mentioned in the FIR and also stated in the evidence for commission of rape upon a girl of 9/10 years by the accused and it has been argued that penetration in full is not required to constitute the offence of rape as it has been well settled that mere touching of labia majora/labia minora is sufficient to constitute the offence of rape.”
Rejecting the argument of the Accused that he had been falsely implicated and pointed to alleged contradictions and anomalies in the investigation, the Court noted, “…Anomalies and contradictions cannot be concealed in this case in a prolong investigation,” but these were not sufficient to discredit the prosecution evidence.
The Court observed, “The prosecution by producing the minor, one eye-witness of the incident and medical evidence has able to prove the guilt of the accused and as such accused must be convicted.”
The Court convicted the Accused under Section 6 of the POCSO Act and sentenced him to rigorous imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life, and fined Rs. 50,000/-, with a further six months’ simple imprisonment in default.
The period spent by the Accused in detention since June 13, 2021, was set off under Section 428 CrPC, and the Court further recommended compensation of Rs. 3,00,000/- to the victim under the Victim Compensation Scheme.
Cause Title: State of West Bengal v. Rafikul Islam @ Bhelu (POCSO Case No.80 of 2021)
Appearance:
Complainant: Special Public Prosecutor Amitava Maitra
Accused: Advocate Goutam Mukherjee
