Kolkata: Two contractual physical education teachers of a reputed private school at Regent Park area in South Kolkata were sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of sexual abuse of a four-year-old nursery student in the school toilet in November 2017.
Alipore POCSO court’s 2nd additional sessions judge Manas Ranjan Sanyal, during his verdict, stated that he could not show any leniency against the offenders for their behaviour against the child and pronounced life imprisonment. It is for the first time in the history of POCSO court in Bengal that teachers have been given such a stringent punishment in connection with a sexual abuse case. The trial was based on the child’s in-camera testimony and statements by four doctors that included the family physician and three SSKM doctors from the department of Psychiatry.
Both the accused — Abhishek Roy and Md Mofizul alias Md Mofizuddin — who were found guilty under IPC Section 376D (gang rape) and POCSO Section 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) pleaded for bail citing medical grounds of their respective family members and dependency on them.
Madhabi Ghosh, special public prosecutor for POCSO cases said the pronouncement of such stringent punishment will be a lesson to those who indulge in such heinous crimes of sexually abusing children.
The accused remained in custody all through the trial with the high court rejecting their bail pleas. The incident on November 30, 2017, had sparked massive protests across the city. The 287-page chargesheet was filed in the POCSO court 88 days after the arrest of the two accused.
Among those questioned by police were the school principal, other teachers and non-teaching staff members. The principal was also relieved of her duties after a case was lodged against her for disclosing the name of the girl.
The defence lawyers claimed they would move the higher forum challenging the verdict of the court.