Surat: The special court for Protection of Children from Sexual Offence (POCSO) Act convicted a 26-year-old man on Friday for raping a three-year-old minor in August 2018. The convict was sentenced to life in jail till he is alive for brutalizing and seriously injuring the minor.
The court, which ordered compensation of Rs 7 lakh to be paid to the survivor also ordered city police to take departmental actions against investigation officer of the case H R Brahmbhatt for negligence in investigation.
The court of additional sessions judge P S Kala convicted Mangal Singh and sentenced him to life imprisonment. “The accused was convicted based on statements of witnesses and other evidence. Had her father not reached on time the girl would have died,” said Kishore Revaliya, assistant public prosecutor.
The minor was kidnapped by the convict on August 13 from outside her home. He was seen by neighbours who alerted the family and the father rushed to the terrace where he found Singh without any clothes on him with the child. While the convict then escaped from the spot, the father took the minor with serious injuries in her private parts to the hospital and also lodged a complaint.
Meanwhile, locals managed to nab the culprit and hand him over to the police.
The survivor’s father and the convict used to work in the same company in Sachin and lived on the company’s premises.
Departmental action against IO
The special court for POCSO ordered the city police commissioner to take departmental actions against investigation officer of the case H R Brahmbhatt, the then police inspector of Sachin police station, for showing negligence and carelessness during investigation. Asking the police chief to take action within three months, the court has also ordered submission of report on action taken. “Police failed to collect some crucial evidence from the spot including samples of semen and blood. They have also failed in collecting CCTV footage of the spot and for all negligence the PI was reprimanded by court during proceedings,” said Kishore Revaliya, assistant public prosecutor.
Rise in crime against minor
The city is witnessing rise in crime against minor girls again. On Monday, a 10-year-old minor girl was kidnapped and raped by Dinesh Baisane, 24, in Pandesara. On Thursday, a seven-year-old minor girl was raped and brutalized by some unidentified man in Sachin GIDC area. Cops are yet to identify the accused even after two days despite availability of multiple CCTV footage.