POCSO Court awards death sentence to predators for abuse of 33 minors

In Uttar Pradesh, a Special POCSO Court in Banda on Friday awarded death sentence to two child predators — a man and his wife — for sexually assaulting 33 minors. The court sentenced Rambhawan and his wife, Durgawati, to death for various offences under the Indian Penal Code and the POCSO Act, including unnatural offences, aggravated penetrative sexual assault, using children for pornographic purposes, storage of pornographic material involving children, abetment, and criminal conspiracy.
The court also ordered the Government to award compensation of Rs 10 lakh to each victim. Further, the court directed that the cash amount seized from the house of the accused be distributed equally among the victims. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered the case in October 2020 against accused Rambhawan and other unknown persons on allegations of sexual abuse of children, using children for pornographic purposes, and the creation and dissemination of child sexual abuse material over the Internet.
During the investigation of the case, it surfaced that the accused persons had committed various nature of perversity including aggravated penetrative sexual assaults against 33 male children, some of them as young as three years of age. Investigation also revealed that some of the victims had suffered injuries on their private parts during penetrative sexual assault. Some of them have remained admitted in the hospital. Few of the victims developed Squint Eye. Victims are still suffering from psychological trauma caused by the predators. The predators remained active in the general area of Banda and Chitrakoot in Uttar Pradesh between Year 2010 to 2020. The accused Rambhawan was working as Junior Engineer in the Department of Irrigation. The accused used to apply different forms of modus operandi on children including access to online video-games and giving money/gifts to allure them.
The agency remained sensitive toward the minor victims during their examination and ensured their emotional well-being through counselling. Seamless coordination was maintained with forensic experts, medical professionals dealing with child sexual abuse cases, and child protection authorities. Proper handling and preservation of digital evidence were also ensured. After completing the investigation, the CBI filed a charge sheet in 2021 against Rambhawan and his wife, Durgawati. Charges were framed in 2023.

(Freelance Journalist)