Darjeeling court sentenced life imprisonment to Teesta rape accused Sunil Rai

Darjeeling, Sept. 10: Additional sessions judge Santanu Mishra today delivered a judgement in a rape case 28 days after the charges were framed against three accused, making the trial one of the fastest in Darjeeling in the recent times.

The case was related to the rape of a three-year-old girl in Kalimpong subdivision in April.

While one of the accused, Sunil Rai, 35 has been sentenced to rigorous life imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 50,000, Prabal Pradhan, 32, has been sentenced to one year rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 5,000. The third accused, Sambhu Subba, 33, has been acquitted.

Public prosecutor Pranay Rai said: “On April 18, 2014, a three-year-old girl was playing in the courtyard of one Dil Kumar Darzi, who also runs a restaurant, around 6pm. One of the accused in the case, Sunil Rai, who was in the restaurant, called the girl on the pretext of buying sweets (for her).”

Later, Sunil took the child to a secluded playground where he committed the crime, Rai said. When the girl’s mother did not find her, she started looking for the child.

“It was then that Dil Kumar and Reshma Darzi (a local resident) told the villagers that they had seen the child with Sunil. The villagers started searching, and after some time, they heard the girl’s cries from behind a bush. The victim was in a semi-unconscious state with blood stains on the lower part of the body,” said Rai.

“At a distance, they saw Sunil running away and the accused was also seen having a conversation with Sambhu Subba (another villager). Sunil fled the spot and took shelter at Prabal Pradhan’s house. Prabal and Sambhu were arrested around 9pm but the prime accused, Sunil, could not be found,” said Rai.

The next day, police arrested Sunil from a hotel in Kalimpong.

The accused persons were booked under Section 376 (2) (i) (rape) of the IPC, Section 6 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, and Section 212 of the IPC (harbouring an accused).

“The charges were framed on August 14, 2014, and during the trial, 17 witnesses were examined. This is one of the fastest trails to be completed in recent times, despite Darjeeling not having a fast-track court,” Rai said.

He added that judge Mishra has directed that 80 per cent of the fine from the accused duo be paid as compensation to the victim. “The victim is also entitled to get compensation from the state government and the district legal service authority,” said Rai.

Source: The Telegraph