HT Correspondent
JORHAT, July 31: The Court of District and Sessions Judge (Majuli) has handed down a rigorous imprisonment for life to two individuals, Ratul Bharali and Manash Bharali, after convicting them of raping a minor girl.
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The District and Sessions Court Judge, N Senabaya Deori, acting as the Special Judge, pronounced the sentencing order on Monday, imposing a fine of Rs 20,000 each on the convicted individuals.
The duo was found guilty under Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), 2012, in the court’s judgment delivered on Friday. The sentencing order was pronounced on Monday after the conviction.
During the trial of the case, over 12 witnesses were examined by the court. In the judgment, the judge directed the secretary of the District Legal Services Authority (Majuli) to pay Rs 5 lakh to the victim girl under Section 357 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) from the Nirbhaya Fund or Victim Compensation Scheme, subject to due verification.
According to the case records, the accused individuals, who hail from a village in the Brahmaputra island, committed the heinous crime on January 28, 2023, in the early morning near a grazing field. The victim girl had gone to tether goats for her family when the accused persons, who were grazing their cows in the same area, dragged her to nearby bushes and raped her.
