Guwahati: A 30-year-old youth was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment by an Assam court for allegedly kidnapping and forcibly marrying a 13-year-old girl.
A special court in Assam’s Hailakandi district pronounced the verdict on Saturday.
The person identified as Bijoy Bin is a resident of Dholaisit village in the Hailakandi district. According to police, a case was filed against him on January 18 last year.
According to the victim’s family, on January 16, 2022, she left for a religious gathering in a nearby village but never returned to the home. According to family members, she was discovered in Bijoy Bin’s home two days later and the man claimed that he had married the minor.
After the complaints of the family members, Bijoy Bin was taken into custody by the police. The minor was also rescued by police from his home.
Bin was charged with kidnapping the minor and forcing her into marriage under section 366 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
He was also booked under section 4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) and section 9 of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.
After being detained for five months and 13 days, Bin was given bail, according to the public prosecutor in the case, Monika Deb. The court chose to hear the case in fast-track following the family’s appeal.
“The special court finished all hearings and delivered its judgement in one year and four months. This is one of the uncommon instances,” said advocate Deb.
According to her, Bijoy was given a POCSO Act sentence of 20 years of rigorous imprisonment by special judge Sanjay Hazarika. He was sentenced to another 5 years in prison, under section 366 of the IPC.
In both cases, he must pay Rs 10,000, and if he doesn’t, he will serve an additional year in jail.
“Five witnesses, including the investigating officer, gave testimony during the hearing, and a special team examined the girl,” Deb said.
She further mentioned, “The victim’s medical examination revealed to the special team that the allegations were real. She confessed that Bin kidnapped her and forced her to marry him.”
The Assam government has taken a strong stand against child marriage in recent times, and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma declared a zero-tolerance policy towards the child marriage offenders.
In February this year, over 3,000 arrests were made in Assam on the charges of child marriage.