Araria Pocso court awards life to rape accused in one day

ARARIA: The Araria Pocso court has beaten its own record of conducting and concluding the trial and sentencing a rape accused to life imprisonment the same day on Wednesday. The same court of special judge Shashikant Ray had earlier set a record of convicting a rape accused in single day proceedings on October 4.
The Pocso court also directed the Araria District Legal Service Authority (DLSA) to pay Rs10 lakh to the minor victim’s parents for her education and rehabilitation from the Victim Compensation Fund payable under the Pocso Act and rules.
Special Pocso prosecutor, Shyamlal Yadav, told this newspaper that the court has beaten its own record of imparting justice to a rape victim child by concluding the proceedings in a single day. “The entire trial proceedings -- right from taking cognizance of the offence, framing of charges, examination and cross-examinations of all the prosecution witnesses, recording statement of the accused, hearing arguments from both sides to passing of judgement in the open court — were video recorded in the presence of the accused, Raju Yadav, and his lawyer Bina Kumari,” Yadav said.
Police sources said the rape case was registered by Araria Mahila Thana under the Pocso Act on September 22 this year. Police completed the investigation and submitted chargesheet in the Pocso court on December 14.
On Wednesday, the defence lawyer pleaded for a lenient view while awarding punishment, but the special Pocso prosecutor prayed for inflicting exemplary punishment on the accused as he had raped an eight-year-old girl.
Investigating officer of the case, Anima Kumari, told this newspaper: “Being a woman police officer, I accorded top priority to the case and submitted the chargesheet within the stipulated period as provided in the Pocso Act.”
The court was jampacked to watch the proceedings, which concluded in a single day for the second time in Araria district.