The Court of the District & Sessions Judge, Nagaon, Rita Kar, in a judgment on Tuesday sentenced an accused of rape and murder of a minor to life imprisonment.
The accused against whom the judgment was pronounced is Ramdhan Namasudra.
As per information, the Court of Justice Rita Kar pronounced the verdict on the rape and murder of a minor which took place in Nagaon district on December 27, 2015 at Sariyohbari of the district.
Also read: Death penalty for convicts of raping children up to 12 years of age
The life-time imprisonment was imposed on the accused under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 302 and Section 4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) 2012 along with a fine of Rs 10,000. The term may be extended for another six months in failure of the deposit of the fine.
Advocate Bibha Phukan fought the case in the court form the government’s side.
It may be mentioned that the victim, who was raped and murdered by the accused, was seven-year-old.
Tuesday’s judgment has been termed as a significant one following the passing of the Union Cabinet’s ordinance permitting death penalty for those convicted of raping girls below the age of 12 years.
President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday gave his assent to the ordinance.
The Union Cabinet had on Saturday approved the ordinance to allow courts to award death penalty for such crimes.
The ordinance also provides for death sentence, imprisonment for life or a minimum sentence of 20 years for the rape of a child below 12 years.
The sentence for the rape of a girl below 16 would be a minimum of 20 years but extendible to life imprisonment, while that for gang- rape of a girl below 16 would be imprisonment for life.