Seven-Year Sentence for Minor: Hailakandi Special Court Convicts Boy for Rape and Murder of Six-Year-Old Girl

A special court in Hailakandi handed down a seven-year imprisonment verdict on Monday to a minor boy found guilty of the rape and subsequent murder of a six-year-old girl in 2022. Special Judge Sanjoy Hazarika pronounced the sentence under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The tragic incident began when the six-year-old girl from Ramnathpur went missing on February 9, 2022. Following a missing person report filed by the victim’s father, then Superintendent of Police in Hailakandi, Gaurav Upadhyay, initiated an investigation. Two days later, an accused minor boy, classified as a Child in Conflict with the Law (CCL), and his father informed the victim’s family about the girl’s body in a jungle.

Upon suspicion, the police arrested the minor boy and his father. Subsequently, during interrogation, the minor boy confessed to the heinous crime, providing a detailed account of the rape and murder incident. This confession, recorded during the interrogation, played a crucial role in the court proceedings.

As the accused was a minor, he was initially sent to a shelter home and is expected to be transferred to jail after two years. The court’s decision came after hearing 29 witnesses, with Special Public Prosecutor Monika Deb and Khalil Uddin Laskar representing the victim, while advocates Joynul Hussain Choudhury and Hussain Ahmed Choudhury represented the accused.