Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The court of additional session judge class II Raghvendra Singh Chouhan sentenced one Francis James, a resident of Kodaria village to 20-year rigorous imprisonment. The accused was found guilty of sodomising a seven-year-old child.
Special public prosecutor Anand Nema and government advocate Dinesh Pancholi informed that the court found the accused guilty under Section 363 (kidnapping) and 377 (unnatural offences) and Section 7/8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012.
Additional superintendent of police Shashikant Kankane informed that the matter was reported in 2017 when the victim’s father lodged a missing complaint of his child. He claimed that his son had gone out of the house to bring milk but did not return on which he filed a missing complaint as he feared that some unidentified person might have abducted him.
Meanwhile, thanks to police alertness, the child was found near the Railway Yard.
The child informed his parents that a person named Francis James had abducted and sodomised him near the railway yard. Acting on his statement, police modified the sections in the case and arrested the accused. The victim recorded his statement before the magistrate under Section 164 of CrPC.
The police produced a challan before the court and 12 witnesses recorded their testimony before the court along with the medical report of the child. Based on that, the court found Francis James guilty under relevant Sections of the IPC and POCSO Act and sentenced him to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment.
