In a first, a court in Hyderabad on June 27 sentenced a 19-year-old man to double life imprisonment for having unnatural sex with a minor boy and murdering him two years ago, while he was still a juvenile.
At the time of the commission of the crime, he was 17-years-old.
Suneetha Kunchala, Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge, found “the child in conflict with the law” and guilty of the charges, reported News18.
The First Of Its Kind Judgement
According to the Telangana police, this is the first time in India that an accused, who was a juvenile when he committed a crime, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for unnatural sex and murder.
He was convicted under sections 364 (kidnap in order to murder), 377 (unnatural offences), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence), 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
On different counts, a fine of Rs 5,000 was also imposed on the man by the court.
According to public prosecutor K Pratap Reddy, the man has been sentenced by the court to 10 years rigorous imprisonment each under IPC sections 364 and 377, seven years under section 201 and rigorous life imprisonment under section 302. The sentences will run concurrently.
On June 28, 2017, the accused took an 11-year-old boy, on the pretext of playing with him, to the terrace of a government boys’ school building.
He killed the victim by hitting an iron pipe on his head, after having unnatural sex with him. For eight days, he kept the victim’s body hidden.
The Juvenile Justice Act states that a child who is found or alleged to have committed an offence and who has not completed 18 years of age on the day of the commission of the crime, is a child in conflict with the law.
On earlier occasions, juveniles who committed heinous crimes have been let go with minimal punishment, including those involved in the brutal Nirbhaya and Kathua rape-and-murder cases. As the first judgement of its kind in the country, the judgement sets a huge precedent.
Also Read: 7-Yr-Old Girl Allegedly Raped By Two Juveniles In Outer Delhi
