Justice at the speed of light: Court in Bengal sends man to prison 13 days after the crime
The judge sent a 40-year-old man to 10 years in jail and slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 for sexually assaulting a three-year-old.
kolkata Updated: Mar 10, 2018 11:43 IST
Hindustan Times
A Bengal court has sentenced a man to 10 years in prison for sexual assault on a three-year-old, a mere 13 days after the crime and nine days after the police submitted the charge sheet.
Additional district judge II of Krishnanagar, Manas Basu on Friday pronounced 40-year-old Tapash Majumdar guilty of sexual assault on the child on February 25.
Read: Lightning justice: Court in Bengal convicts, jails man for sexual assault in 15 days
He also has to pay a fine of Rs 10,000. If Majumdar fails to pay the fine, he has to spend six months more in the jail.
The court in Nadia district bettered the record of another court in the same district that, in December 2016, sentenced a 50-year-old barber for sexually assaulting an eight-year-old girl to five years in prison in just 15 days after the crime.
“This is a remarkable achievement by the court. I have never heard of justice being dispensed faster in any court. A total of 15 witnesses deposed in the case,” said public prosecutor Nasiruddin Ahmed.
Read: Delay in justice and low rate of conviction are major flaws
“The investigating officers did a splendid job. The role of the judiciary was laudable,” said Santosh Pandey, superintendent of police of the district.
The crime took place in Purba Sonatala village under Nakashipara police station in Nadia district on the evening of February 25, when the parents took the child and went to attend the puja and house warming party of a neighbour.
Majumdar slipped to a spot behind the house carrying the child in his lap and inserted his fingers inside her private parts.
Read: Waiting for justice: 27 million cases pending in courts, 4500 benches empty
Attracted by the cries of the child, invitees ran out and caught him. Majumdar was handed over to the police and a complaint was lodged that night.
The police charged him with IPC section 376 (rape) and section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
The police submitted the charge sheet on February 28.
The judge also directed the district magistrate to arrange for paying Rs 3 lakh compensation to the family of the child as per the existing scheme of the government.
Majumdar is a daily labourer.
