One has to wait for months to years for the hearing of pending cases in the courts of the country. While date after date has become the identity of our judicial system, a Bihar court has presented such an example, which everyone is stunned to hear.
In fact, a court in Araria district in Bihar set an example for the whole country a few days ago by giving a verdict to the guilty of rape in a day. The district court, while hearing the case registered under the POCSO Act, has sentenced the accused to life imprisonment, after hearing the testimony and arguments on the same day. Let's know how this happened and what is its inside story...
A case of raping an eight-year-old minor was registered on July 23 this year at Narpatganj police station in Araria. The Investigative Officer of the case, Rita Kumari, arrested 30-year-old Dilip Kumar Yadav and filed a charge sheet in court on September 18. The court took cognizance of the matter on September 20 in the same month. The charge sheet was formed on 24 September and then the matter was heard on 4 October. The debate took place on the same day and the accused was sentenced on the same day.
The prosecution produced 10 witnesses, including the victim, her parents, brother, two doctors, an assistant nursing midwife, the investigating officer, and two neighbors. All of them were examined and cross-examined on the same day. The biggest thing was that no one testified in favor of Yadav. Apart from awarding life imprisonment to Yadav, the court directed the government to pay Rs 2 lakh to the victim.
Meanwhile, the Directorate of Prosecution, Home Department, Government of Bihar claimed that this was the fastest trial under the POCSO Act in the country. The home department said it broke the record of a verdict in three days set by a Madhya Pradesh court in 2018.
Public Prosecutor Shyam Lal Yadav, as reported, said that we had a very strong case, in which the girl's medical report and blood-stained clothes conclusively proved that she was raped. The girl had identified the accused. All the witnesses helped in our case. He said things progressed rapidly from the time the hearing began at 9.30 a.m. on October 4.
After examining all the witnesses and the prosecution and defense giving final arguments, the court pronounced the sentence. It was a full day's hearing and the verdict came by 5 pm.
Defense lawyer Prakash says they tried to argue that the girl's private parts might have been hurt when she was defecating in the open among bamboo bushes. At the same time, a medical report said that her hymen was broken and she had serious injuries on his private parts.
Apart from this, the defense had argued that the FIR was not clear where the attack took place. The defense counsel pointed out that there is a contradiction in the timing of the incident as disclosed by the prosecution. Also, there is a contradiction in the statement made by the victim before the court.
Investigating officer Rita Kumari says that after the girl identified Yadav, she had no reason to suspect anyone else. Yadav was arrested within a week. The victim recognized him. The accused tried to give money to the victim's family to 'manage' the case but was not successful. Public Prosecutor Shyam Lal said that there was no need for a DNA test as the girl had identified Yadav.
When the convict Yadav did not appear before anyone, Vineet Prakash, the defense lawyer appointed by the government, said that I met Dilip twice in jail. He said that when his family is not supporting him, he should be left to his fate.
