A special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court in Vapi, Gujarat, delivered one of the harshest punishments under the Act on Saturday, sentencing a repeat child sex offender to imprisonment till his last breath for aggravated penetrative sexual assault on a 10-year-old boy.
Details of the Case
The special POCSO court in Vapi town of Valsad district convicted 27-year-old Balaji alias Momiya Sanjay Patel for the March 2024 crime. Judge H N Vakil sentenced him to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 20,000. The court also directed the government to pay Rs 2 lakh as compensation to the victim.
The Incident
According to the prosecution, the crime occurred on the morning of March 31, 2024, when the boy went to play at a relative’s house nearby. He returned home in the afternoon in a distressed state, crying. Family members learned that Patel had subjected him to sodomy and other sexual assault. The boy was rescued after he shouted for help, alerting women in neighboring houses, who intervened and freed him from the accused’s clutches. The survivor later told his family that Patel had forcibly taken him into his rented room. Relatives confirmed the incident with neighbors, and a woman confirmed rescuing him. The family then filed an FIR at Dungra police station.
Convict’s Criminal History
The trial court was informed of Patel’s past criminal record. He had been booked in September 2018 for molesting a six-year-old girl and was in jail for three years and five months. That offence was also registered at Dungra police station. District government pleader Anil Tripathi stated, “The convict has a history of sexual assault on minor children. Further, in this case, there was no scientific evidence, but the court convicted the accused based on the survivor’s statement and the statement of the woman who rescued him from the convict’s premises.”
Legal Significance
This verdict underscores the judiciary’s stringent approach to repeat offenders under the POCSO Act, emphasizing the protection of children and the importance of survivor testimony even in the absence of scientific evidence.
