A Special POCSO Court in Dharmanagar under North Tripura district has sentenced former hostel warden Uday Kumar Reang to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for an offence committed against a minor at a hostel under Kanchanpur subdivision of same district
The Special Judge, POCSO Court No. 01, Dharmanagar, also imposed a fine of Rs. 10,000 on the convict. In default of payment, he will have to undergo an additional six months of simple imprisonment.
The case originated from Kanchanpur police station Case No. 64/2022, registered under Sections 376(3) and 506 of the IPC and Section 4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. The matter was subsequently taken up by the Special POCSO Court at Dharmanagar.
According to the prosecution, the accused, who was serving as a hostel warden of Saint Piter School, allegedly sexually assaulted a minor girl on multiple occasions. The prosecution presented 16 witnesses before the court during the trial.
After a thorough investigation, Sub-Inspector Sanjit Tripura, then posted at Kanchanpur police station, submitted the charge sheet on March 14, 2023, within a few months of registration of the case.
After examining the evidence and hearing the arguments, the court found Uday Kumar Reang guilty under the relevant provisions of the POCSO Act. He was sentenced to 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment under Section 4 of the POCSO Act.
The court also awarded three years’ rigorous imprisonment under Section 506 of the IPC in connection with the same case. The police press release states that the sentence under Section 506 IPC is to run concurrently with the principal sentence.
Government lawyer Sudarshan Sharma said the stringent punishment would send a strong message against crimes involving children and help strengthen efforts to prevent such offences.