In rare Pocso outcome, two get death, two life terms in one day

  • | Saturday | 9th March, 2019

The convict in this case was sentenced to life in prison.The public prosecutor in all four cases was Ujwala Moholkar. THANE: On International Women's Day, a special Pocso Act court pronounced sentences in a record four cases, rolling out two death sentences and two life imprisonments, in a span of two hours. Two of these cases involved rape and murder and attracted the death penalty. The third case of rape and assault attracted life in jail. Pathan was sentenced to life imprisonment.

THANE: On International Women's Day, a special Pocso Act court pronounced sentences in a record four cases, rolling out two death sentences and two life imprisonments, in a span of two hours. The legal fraternity at the Thane sessions court premises, where the Pocso court is housed, said no one had heard of sentences in three or more cases by a single court in a single day.The victims in three cases were girls aged 3-5. Two of these cases involved rape and murder and attracted the death penalty. The third case of rape and assault attracted life in jail. The victim in the fourth case was an 8-year-old boy, who was also murdered. The convict in this case was sentenced to life in prison.The public prosecutor in all four cases was Ujwala Moholkar. Special judge SA Sinha took serious note of growing incidents of child sex abuse while awarding the sentences.In the first case, Sumant Kumar Jha (38) was sentenced to life imprisonment till death for raping a 5-year-old girl who had gone with her father to a mosque on March 16 last year.About 1.25 pm, while her father was offering prayers, the girl went to a nearby shop to buy a cold drink, where Jha lured her into an autorickshaw and took her to the Brahmand area, dragged her into some bushes and raped her.The accused also took away the gold earrings of the girl by biting them away and abandoned the child at the spot. The child made her way to the main road weeping and passers-by helped her reach her home.As many as 19 witnesses testified in the case.In the second case, Ram Kiran Munnilal Gaud, a society watchman, was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a 3-year-old girl.Public prosecutor Ujwala Moholkar said the accused had kidnapped the girl when she was playing with a dog in her locality about 12.10 pm on September 30, 2013. He took her to a vacant room in a transit camp nearby and raped her, later banging her head on a stone and killing her. The body was found dumped in a pond nearby on October 2.The prosecution examined 18 witnesses. These included persons present during the extra-judicial confession of the accused, said Moholkar. the DNA report proved vital in the nailing Gaud.In the third case, Mohammad Abez Ajmer Shaikh from Bhiwandi was sentenced to death for the abduction of a 4-year-old girl from near her home about 4.30 pm on April 1 last year and her rape.Shaikh took the victim to the bushes behind a mosque, raped her and killed her with large stones. The body was abandoned in the bushes.The body was recovered on April 4. The victim was daughter of a pan shop owner and was playing with her younger brother when the accused lured her away and took her to the bushes.The prosecution said the accused owed the victim's father money for pan consumed and took out his anger on the girl when her father repeatedly told him to pay up.In the case 22 witnesses were examined. Their deposition, Shaikh's extra-judicial confession to a friend, and the medical reports proved vital in the conviction.In the fourth case, Mohammad Pathan (23) was sentenced to life imprisonment for the abduction, rape and murder of an eight-year-old boy on December 19, 2017. The body was found dumped on a hillock in Mumbra after three days of intense search by the police. Pathan was sentenced to life imprisonment.

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