4-day police probe, five-day trial land man in jail for life
FASTEST RAPE TRIAL 4-year-old identifies accused from nine mug shots pasted on a sheet of paper, which proves to be the key evidence
On February 2, a 4-yearold girl in Jaipur’s JK Lone Hospital identified the man, who raped her three days ago, from nine mug shots pasted on a sheet of paper.
Five days later, the process was repeated in court, and she identified him again, proving to be the most important evidence in Rajasthan’s fastest trial in a rape case.
The special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act court in Sikar district completed the trial in five working days and on February 11 handed life imprisonment until death to the man found guilty of sexual offence, said public pr o s e c ut o r Shi vr a t a n Sharma.
“The trial began on February 5 and concluded around 8pm on Monday. It took only five working days for the judge to pronounce the man guilty of the heinous crime,” Sharma added.
Before this speediest trial, a Jodhpur court completed trial in 2005 in the rape of a German woman by an auto-rickshaw driver and his aide in 11 working days after the police filed the charge sheet. In another case, an Alwar court finished trial in the rape of a German woman by Bitti SHIVRATAN SHARMA, public prosecutor Mohanty, son of a senior Odisha IPS officer, in 15 days.
In the Sikar case, the 4-yearold girl was found in a burial ground around 9pm on January 30, a few furlongs away from where she lived with her parents in shanties, said sub-inspector Surendra Kumar Saini who investigated the case.
“She was missing for two hours when her parents began looking for her. They found her in the burial ground with a man later identified as Karan alias Kalu and Kaliya. The girl was bleeding and the man got injured when he tried to escape. Both were taken to hospital. Later, SURENDRA KUMAR SAINI , sub-inspector doctors referred the girl to JK Lone Hospital and the man to Sikar’s district hospital,” the police officer said.
The Khatu police station registered a case against Karan, who does not use a surname, on January 31 on the complaint given by the girl’s family. The man was arrested the same day and sent in judicial custody the next day.
The man is a native of Gujarat. He lived with his aunt’s family. The girl’s parents exchange utensils for old clothes as they go around villages.
On February 2, police officer Saini went to Jaipur to record the girl’s statement. The process in which she identified the man from the mug shots was recorded on camera and the CD of this was presented in court during trial.
Prosecutor Sharma said the girl was brought to court on February 7 where she again identified the accused from the mug shots.
“We took the case under the case offi cer scheme, a programme in which police officers ensure that the witnesses don’t turn hostile so that they get conviction, and finished the investigation in four days,” said Dr Amandeep Si ngh Kapoor, Sikar’s superintendent of police. He added that the charge sheet was filed on February 4.
JAIPUR:: The trial began on February 5 and concluded around 8pm on Monday. It took only five working days for the judge to pronounce the man guilty of the heinous crime. She (the girl) was missing for two hours when her parents began looking for her. They found her in the burial ground with a man identified as Karan alias Kalu & Kaliya. We took the case under the scheme, in which police officers ensure that witnesses don’t turn hostile so that they get conviction, and finished probe in four days
AMANDEEP SINGH KAPOOR, Sikar superintendent of police