Kolkata, Feb 18 (PTI) A special POCSO court in Kolkata on Tuesday sentenced a man guilty of rape and attempted murder of a seven-month-old child in north Kolkata to death by hanging.
The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) court at Bankshall court had, on Monday, convicted the man of kidnapping, rape and attempt to murder of the toddler from the Burtolla area of the city within 75 days of his arrest.
The quantum of punishment was announced by the court after hearing the final round of submissions from the defence counsel as well as the public prosecutor representing the state, who prayed for capital punishment arguing that the crime fell under the ‘rarest of the rare’ case category.
This was the seventh death sentence awarded by courts in West Bengal in the last six months and the sixth capital punishment awarded under POCSO Act for perpetrating sexual assault on minors.
The convict, Rajib Ghosh, was found guilty by judge Indrila Mukherjee under sections 65 (2), 140 (4), 137 (2) and 118 of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and Sec 6 of POCSO Act. The first and last sections of the two Acts entailed death by hanging as maximum punishment for the convict.
Ghosh, who committed the crime on November 30 last year, was arrested by Kolkata Police on December 5 from his residence in Gopiballavpur area of Jhargram district where he had fled.
Police had filed their first charge sheet on December 30, completing investigation within 26 days of arrest, and days later followed it up with a supplementary charge sheet.
The victim, a dweller of a road-side shanty, is still undergoing treatment at the ICU of the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital here, special public prosecutor Bivas Chatterjee said.
Her condition remains critical on account of the severe nature of injuries she sustained from the assault, a hospital official said.
"She is still fighting for her life and even if she manages to pull through, it is unlikely that she would ever be able to lead a normal life," he added.
Chatterjee added that it took just 40 days to complete the trial process, which commenced on January 7.
While 24 witnesses, including eight experts, were examined during the trial, Chatterjee said assistance from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) was taken by the prosecution for establishing the role of the accused in the crime.
"The medical superintendent and vice-principal of RG Kar Medical College, who was among my witnesses, submitted in court that he had never encountered a crime of such brutal nature in his entire career," Chatterjee said.
The special PP informed that Ghosh's conviction was further cemented by digital evidence where a CCTV clip of the crime which revealed that the perpetrator tortured the infant for 19 minutes was made available before the court.
"He had unleashed his perversion on the infant after failing to solicit sex at a red light area of the city on the night of the crime. The DNA on the victim's clothes matched his, including the semen samples found on her. The bite marks on various parts of the victim's body also matched the suspect's dental profile," Chatterjee said.
He also said the unique gait of the accused helped in identifying him from CCTV footage in the locality under Burtolla police station area in north Kolkata.
"We prayed for capital punishment for the convict because of the very heinous nature of the crime. It is immaterial here that the victim continues to survive and fight for her life. Unless strong punishment is handed out, society will never feel safe and that would give out the wrong message. The court evidently was convinced by our argument," the prosecutor said.
Prior to this sentence, six convicts were awarded death penalties by courts across West Bengal for perpetrating similar crimes. In five of those six cases, death sentences were awarded for the brutal manners of rape and murder of minor girls where convicts were booked under the POCSO Act, besides relevant sections of the IPC and, later, the BNS.