‘Rarest of rare’: UP court hands death sentence to suspended junior engineer & his wife for sexually abusing children

It said the court found the criminal acts of the accused as “rarest of rare” on the basis of unparalleled depravity and systemic nature of their crimes, “which involved the orchestrated sexual exploitation and abuse of 33 minor children”.

In its statement, the agency also said the trial court ordered an award of compensation of Rs 10 lakh to each victim by the government. “The court further ordered to distribute the cash amount seized from the house of the accused persons among the victims in equal proportion,” it said.

The CBI had arrested Ram Bhawan (48), who hails from Banda, in November 2020. He has been lodged in jail since his arrest. His wife, Durgawati (45), was arrested a month later.

On Wednesday, the court had found the two guilty in the case lodged under IPC Section 377 (unnatural offences) and sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the IT Act.

Durgawati, who was out on bail, was taken into custody. On Friday, husband and wife were produced before the Banda court under tight police security for the pronouncement of sentence.

“Special Judge Pradeep Kumar Mishra awarded the death penalty to Ram Bhawan and Durgawati, observing that the case falls within the ‘rarest of rare’ category,” said Banda government counsel Kamal Singh.

Government counsel Singh said the prosecution examined 74 witnesses during the trial, including 25 victims. “During the investigation, the agency recovered 34 videos and 678 photographs of the victims,” Singh said.

He stated that Ram Bhawan had been posted in Hamirpur, Banda and Chitrakoot districts, and was arrested from Chitrakoot — his last posting.

Defence counsel Bhura Prasad Nishad said, “We will file an appeal against the judgment.” He said the court also ordered the confiscation of Rs 8.27 lakh in cash recovered from Ram Bhawan’s residence during the probe. He further stated the CBI had conducted the medical examination of the victims in Delhi.

According to the prosecution, the CBI arrested Ram Bhawan following sustained surveillance. The agency also arrested his wife alleging her involvement in his activities. Durgawati, the prosecution said, threatened witnesses and hid evidence of her husband’s crimes.

The CBI’s case

The CBI had earlier alleged that Ram Bhawan sexually abused children in Banda, Chitrakoot and adjoining areas for a decade and had targeted at least 50 minors, recording the acts and selling the videos and photos on social media platforms and the darknet.

During searches conducted at his residence, investigators had recovered cash, along with mobile phones, laptops, a web camera, electronic storage devices including pen drives and memory cards, and other incriminating material.

The central probe agency had said examination of the accused’s email accounts revealed he was allegedly in regular contact with several persons, both Indian and foreign nationals, for the purpose of sharing Child Sexual Abuse Material (CASM).