Second Additional District and Special Sessions Court in Kalaburagi on Wednesday sentenced Hiralal Boyi (32) to seven years rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting a minor girl near Asharya Colony at Ramghad in Shahabad police limits and imposed on him a fine of ₹ 1 lakh.
As per court sources, the victim, who belongs to a Scheduled Castes, was on her way to buy ice cream on December 28, 2017 when the accused forcibly took her away to a desolate low-lying area located between Ramghad and BPL Housing Society and sexually assaulted her.
Following a complaint lodged by the victim’s mother, a case was registered at the Shahabad Police Station under various sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC), Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (PoCSO) Act 2012 and Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (Shahabad) Basavaraj K. investigated the case and filed a charge-sheet confirming the crimes as mentioned in the First Information Report.
After hearing both sides, Gopalappa S., judge, found the accused guilty of crimes specified in the charge-sheet and pronounced the judgment.
He awarded seven years rigorous imprisonment to the accused and imposed a fine of ₹ 50,000 on him for committing crimes specified under Sections 376 (punishment for rape) and 511 (attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment) of IPC and Sections 10 and 18 of PoCSO Act.
He also pronounced a two years imprisonment and a fine of ₹ 50,000 for crimes specified under Sections 3(1)(W)(I) of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. If the accused fails to pay fine, the judgment noted, the guilty shall have to undergo six months simple imprisonment. It was clarified that the jail term would run concurrently and not consecutively.
The judge ordered the District Legal Services Authority to pay ₹ 75,000 compensation to the victim. Anjana Chauhan, special public prosecutor (PoCSO Act), argued for the State.
