Justice not delayed: Bihar’s POCSO court completes trial, gives verdict in one day

The court of special judge (POCSO) Shashi Kant Rai sentenced the convict with life-term punishment and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000. The court also ordered a compensation of Rs 7 lakh to be paid to the victim from the Victim Compensation Fund.

The matter pertained to the rape of an eight-year-old girl on July 22 this year and the FIR was lodged on July 23.

A press note by the Directorate of Prosecution, Home Department of the Bihar government, said: “This is perhaps the first case in which punishment has been given in a single day of trial. Before it, in Datia (MP) district, a court had delivered a verdict after three days of trial on 8 August, 2018. Bihar has now made a national record by conducting trial in a single day by giving life sentence to the convict till his last breath.”

Rai in his 20-page order said: “On the close scrutiny of her entire testimonies, it is evident that the IO has well proved the place of occurrence and no defect in the investigation was pointed by the accused. The defect as pointed out is not material one. The defence did not dispute the place of occurrence and the place where the incident of the rape was committed.”

Public prosecutor in the case Shyamlal Yadav told The Indian Express: “After filing of FIR on July 23, charges were framed for rape under IPC and POCSO Act sections on September 24. The case was supervised by Araria women police station in-charge Rita Kumari.”