19-year-old rapist awarded death penalty

A district and session court of Assam on Friday awarded the death penalty to Zakir Husain, the prime accused in the brutal rape and murder of an 11-year old girl at Batadrava in central Assam’s Nagaon district in March this year.

Completing the trial within record time, district and session judge Rita Kar pronounced the death sentence to 19-year old Husain under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for the murder, and to life imprisonment for raping the minor girl.

The girl was gang-raped and set on fire by dousing her with kerosene on March 23 when she was alone at her home in Dhaniabheti Lalung Gaon by her 12-year-old classmate, her 11-year-old cousin and 19-year-old neighbour, Zakir Husain.

The police had formed a Special Investigation Team, which worked in coordination with the prosecution to complete the trial.

The police said, “While Husain has been sentenced to death, the two juveniles were tried by the Juvenile Justice Board. They have now been put in a correctional home for three years.”

The incident had created a huge uproar in Assam with some organisation extending legal support to the victim’s family to pursue the case in the court of law to ensure that culprits are brought to book. After raping her turn by turn, and then setting her body on fire the youths had fled from the backdoor.

The victim was rushed to Guwahati Medical College Hospital, where she succumbed to injuries later that night.

The police, while filing the chargesheet in April, had also named five people including Husain’s parents, his brother, his brother-in-law and the person who was driving the car in which Husain had fled from the scene of the crime to another village.

The court had charged them with criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence. However, they were acquitted by by the Nagaon Chief Judicial Magistrate for lack of sufficient evidence.

The victim’s family, which was present in the court, said that they are happy that justice has been done.

Stating that his wife was not keeping well since the incident took place, the father of the girl said, “We hope that the accused get the sentence.”

The girl belonged to an underprivileged dailywage worker family.

Chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal had launched a toll free helpline 181-Sakhi for women after the incident.