‘Raping minor’: 61-year-old man gets jail for 10 years

Jalpaiguri: A 61-year-old man has been sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment by the Jalpaiguri District Court for the rape of a minor girl. Along with the imprisonment, the court imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 with an additional one-month imprisonment in case of default. POCSO Court Judge Indawar Tripathi also ordered the district’s Legal Services Authority to compensate the victim with Rs 2 lakh.

The incident occurred on December 4, 2020, in Jalpaiguri district. According to reports, the victim’s family earns a

living through agricultural work. On the day of the crime, the girl’s father was working in the fields, while her mother had gone to visit relatives, leaving her alone at home.

Debashis Dutta, Assistant Public Prosecutor of the POCSO Court, explained: “The accused, who is a neighbour of the minor, took advantage of the situation, entered her house and raped her. The victim was terrified and unable to speak out initially. Upon returning home, the girl’s mother found her in tears and after being questioned, she revealed the incident.”

The victim’s family lodged a written complaint at the Police Station on December 5, 2020. Police subsequently registered a case under Section 4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and began investigation. The court’s ruling was based on documentary evidence and testimonies from eight witnesses. According to police sources, the accused, Nakul Sarkar (61), attempted to evade arrest following the crime. He was eventually apprehended on January 14, 2021, and has remained in judicial custody since. Throughout the trial, Sarkar maintained that he had been falsely implicated in the case