Injamamul Haque, who abducted and raped a little child, was given 15 years in prison and hard labour by Special Judge Jaydev Koch of the Kokrajhar Court in a landmark ruling on 13th August. The shocking incident occurred on 17th January 2022.
Public prosecutor Manjit Ghosh unveiled that he deceived the minor girl into believing he was taking her to tuition to convince her to leave her house. However, he abducted her and took her to the national capital where she endured four days of captivity and was subjected to regular sexual assault. The authorities eventually arrived in Delhi and rescued the victim. They booked him and filed a chargesheet against him.
Injamamul Haque was handed down the sentence after the court found him guilty of violating Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act. Furthermore, the court imposed an additional three months of jail time without the option to pay a penalty. In addition, he was sentenced to five years in prison and an additional month of imprisonment without the possibility of a fee under Section 368 of the Indian Penal Code. He was also fined Rs 5,000. The victim’s family members were pleased with the court’s decision. Kokrajhar locals are happy with the ruling as well and believe that the Assam police’s exhaustive and successful investigation would contribute to a decrease in crimes against women and children.
There are several such cases that emerge from Assam and other parts of the country. Only recently, in another case, a massive protest calling for harsh punishment for the gang rape and murder accused in the Dudhnoi case took place under the banner of the All-Bodo Students Union (ABSU) in the town centre of Kokrajhar. On 3rd May, two underage tribal girls were raped by Dhan Ali Talukdar, Bahar Ali and Rahman Ali in the Dudhnoi area of Goalpara district.
The girls were returning home from a Rongjali Baisagu cultural event. On 5th May, Hiranmoy Khakhlari, the brother of one of the victims was brutally assaulted by Talukdar’s brother Shekabor Ali, sister Parmina Begum and Ramzan when he confronted them about the incident. He passed away from his wounds in a Guwahati hospital. The savage attack also injured two other people.
The illegal houses of the accused were then demolished by the state government. The administration arrived in Tangbari village with bulldozers, supported by hundreds of police officers. The homes of accomplices Bahar Ali, Rahman Ali and one Ramzan Ali were also demolished by the officials along with the residence of the principal accused Talukdar, his elder brother Shekabor Ali and his sister Parmina Begum.