Neemuch (Madhya Pradesh): The court of a special judge (POCSO Act) sentenced a rape accused to triple life imprisonment and also slapped a penalty of Rs 5,000 on him after he was found guilty of abducting and raping a minor.
Special public prosecutor Jagdish Chouhan informed that the accused is Govindram Bheel, 21, a resident of Chadol village under Jawad police station in Neemuch.
Chouhan further said that during the case the trial court relied on scientific evidence including DNA and medical reports of the victim and the accused after the former and her parents turned hostile in the court.
Briefing about the case, Chouhan said that incident took place between July 5, 2020, and July 19, 2020, and was reported at Jeeran police and Jawad police stations. On July 5 late in the evening, a 17-year-old girl went missing from outside her house. When her parents started searching for her some villagers informed them that they saw one Govindram Bheel from Chadol village under suspicious circumstances. Following this, her parents lodged her missing complaint at Jeeran police station.
Two-week later, police recovered the minor and arrested the accused on July 20. During preliminary investigation, the victim informed the police that the accused took her to Chadoli village, where he kept her captive and repeatedly raped her for two weeks. Later, the accused dropped her at her native village.
During the court hearing, the victim and her parents turned hostile and said that she had gone to her maternal aunt's place in Manasa after there was a dispute among her parents. The investigation team pleaded with the court to ignore the minor's statement and consider the DNA reports of the accused and the victim. The court agreed and convicted the accused under the IPC and POCSO Act.
Chouhan informed that accused Govindram Bheel was found guilty under Section 363 (kidnapping), Section 366 (procuration of minor girl), 376(2)(n) (raped by one or more in a group of persons acting in furtherance of their common intention) of Indian Penal Code and Section 5(l)/6, 3/4 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012.
