POCSO court gives verdict in nine days

KANPUR: POCSO Act court in Auraiya set a record on Thursday by awarding life sentence to a rape accused in nine days after chargesheet was filed. Special judge (Protection of Children From Sexual Offences Act) Rajesh Chaudhary convicted Shyamveer Singh after an eight-day trial and delivered his verdict on the ninth day. He also slapped Rs 2 lakh fine on the accused for treatment and rehabilitation of rape survivor.Police too played its role by swiftly completing investigation in 19 days and submitted the chargesheet on 20th day.Jitendra Singh Tomar, special prosecutor, POCSO, said the case was wrapped up in 28 days. “The trial has set a new precedent,” he said.
Tomar argued that the rape survivor’s father stated in FIR that accused Shyamveer sexually assaulted his four-year-old daughter, while she was playing during lunchtime at an anganwadi near the house of the accused. The girl was bleeding profusely when she returned home and narrated the incident to her mother, who informed her husband. The girl’s parents lodged the complaint on August 1. The accused was arrested and set to jail. The investigation officer after completing the probe, filed the chargesheet on August 20.
The trial was conducted on a day-to-day basis and the prosecution examined three witnesses in a single day. Nine prosecution witnesses were produced in court. On one occasion, when a prosecution witness could not reach court due to rain, the then superintendent of police, Suniti, sent her vehicle to pick the witness and present him in court, the prosecutor said.
During trial, the court provided an amicus curie, Priti Gupta, to defend the accused. The special prosecution officer, additional district government counsel (ADGC) Chandra Bhushan Tiwari, also argued the case for the prosecution. Neither parents of the accused nor anyone from the family of the accused were present in court at the time of judgment.