The court also slapped a fine of Rs 1.51 lakh on the man, who used to lure the children with biscuits and chocolates to his residence.
A special POCSO (Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act) court in Kheda on Monday sentenced a 54-year-old mehendi artist and painter to rigorous ‘life imprisonment until death’ for raping four minor girls and recording videos of the act. The court also slapped a fine of Rs 1.51 lakh on the man, who used to lure the children with biscuits and chocolates to his residence.
The man, who was arrested in October last year on the basis of a complaint by one of the four victims, was sentenced under Sections of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita for rape of victims under 12 years of age as well as relevant sections of the POCSO Act. Special POCSO Judge P P Purohit on Monday considered the prosecution case in which the man was accused of raping four girls.
The prosecution’s case was that the accused, who was unmarried and lived alone, lured the minor girls into his apartment with biscuits and chocolates, raped the girls and filmed the act on his mobile phone. Public Prosecutor P R Tiwari said, “The police investigation proved beyond doubt that the man was a pervert, addicted to pornography and sex. When the fourth victim complained to her mother and the FIR was lodged, the previous incidents of rape were discovered as the accused had also shown the victims porn videos and then dragged them to the bathroom, where he raped them…”
The prosecution also told the court that the accused threatened to kill all four victims if they informed anyone.
According to the prosecution case, the accused raped the four minor victims over a period of one year, starting with one girl who he had lured from the village centre while she was returning from school. The second victim was the sister of the first victim.
“When the police searched the apartment of the accused, they recovered videos of his act with the four minor victims as well as other videos. Hair strands of the victims were recovered from the bathroom as well as his bedroom,” said Tiwari.
While the prosecution argued for the accused to be handed out maximum punishment for the crime against minor victims, relying on the testimony of 19 witnesses and 45 documentary evidence, the POCSO court convicted the man and sentenced him to rigorous life imprisonment unto death under the POCSO Act.
The court also directed that each of the four victims be awarded a compensation of Rs 2 lakh as per the Gujarat Victim Compensation Scheme.