A special POCSO court in Bokaro on Wednesday sentenced a 22-year-old man to 25 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping a minor girl, with DNA profiling emerging as the strongest piece of evidence that sealed his conviction.
Court Proceedings and Sentence
Additional District and Sessions Judge-III of the special POCSO court, Devesh Kumar Tripathi, convicted Ramprasad Tuddu under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The court awarded 25 years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000. It was further stated that failure to pay the fine would result in an additional one-year simple imprisonment.
Details of the Incident
According to the special public prosecutor, the incident occurred on January 11, 2025. The victim's father filed an FIR alleging that his 15-year-old daughter had gone to a nearby field for defecation in the evening when the accused abducted her. The accused reportedly dragged the teenager to an isolated area near an anganwadi centre and raped her. When the girl did not return for a long time, her family members began searching for her. Sensing people approaching, the accused fled the scene, leaving her behind. The girl later reached home and narrated the ordeal to her family, following which an FIR was registered.
Role of Forensic Evidence
The special public prosecutor stated that during the trial, the prosecution examined 12 witnesses, including the victim, her father, and the investigating officer. The turning point in the case was the forensic evidence submitted by the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Ranchi. The DNA profiling report conclusively matched the accused, leaving little room for doubt during the proceedings. The court described the forensic findings as crucial scientific evidence while pronouncing the judgment.
