For such a serious rape, when the victim was raped continuously for 8 days, is imprisonment enough for punishment ? The fear of punishment is needed, but criminals have no fear of punishments due to which they repeat crimes one after another. Such criminals deserve to be hanged.
The accused in the gang-rape case in Rajasthan’s Jhalawar have been sentenced to imprisonment with the judges making some scathing observations against the Jhalawar police.
POCSO court sentences accused
The POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) court sentenced 13 accused (14 as per some reports), all of whom belong to Jhalawar, to 20 years’ imprisonment each while two others including a woman have been given 4 years’ rigorous imprisonment each. Additionally, those who’ve been given 20 years in jail have been fined INR 10,000 each and INR 7000 fine has been imposed on those who’ve been handed four years jail term.
Of these, five are repeated offenders against whom nearly 44 cases of honey trapping, smuggling of arms, attempt to murder, and looting among other serious offenses have been registered at the Jhalawar police station. It must be mentioned that four juveniles are facing trial in the juvenile justice board.
The repeat offenders have been identified as Raza Khan, Arshad Ayub, Tousif Touhid, Sharukh Khan, and Nawab. “If the Jhalawar police had done its duty properly then such a heinous crime wouldn’t have occurred”, noted Special judge Ashok Choudhary who delivered the verdict.
The police had arrested 27 persons in connection with the case, 25 of whom belong to Jhalawar. 13 of the 25 have been sentenced to jail while the others have been released due to lack of evidence. The charge sheet runs to 1750 pages on the basis of which the police presented 27 accused in the POCSO court on May 7.
Jhalawar rape case
The Jhalawar rape issue had rocked the Rajasthan assembly with MLA Madan Dilawar raising questions regarding the arrests made in the case. Reports of police apathy also emerged with the family complaining that they were turned away by the Rajasthan police when the victim approached them on March 6 to register a complaint against the minor victim’s abductors and rapists.
The horrific tale of a 15-year-old being raped repeatedly by different men over a period of 8 days at different locations was reported on 9 March.
Detailing her ordeal, the girl had said that she was drugged, beaten up, and even threatened with dire consequences if she attempted to resist the men who were constantly subjecting her to brutality even as she groaned in pain. She somehow made good her escape and reached her home on March 5 after which she and her family approached the police to file a complaint.
It was alleged that the victim’s friends Bulbul and Chothmal lured the girl with the promise of buying her a school bag and took her to Jhalawar city on 25 February. There Bulbul is said to have handed over the minor girl to 3-4 young men who confined her in different places across Jhalawar and subjected her to rape by strangers.
Source : Hindu Post
