On Monday, May 15, an Aligarh court sentenced 50-year-old Mohammad Hassan alias Pappu to twenty years in prison for raping his 13-year-old adopted minor daughter in October last year. Hasan was sentenced within 41 days after being charged under the POCSO Act. Reportedly, he adopted a Hindu laborer’s daughter. He had been raping the minor girl for about a year. Following Mohammad Hasan’s conviction, the victim was sent to a women’s shelter home.
Reportedly, Mohammad Hasan, a Quarsi resident claimed to have adopted a three-year-old Hindu girl from a brick kiln in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad where he used to work roughly eight years ago. He brought the girl to his home. Although he adopted the girl from a Hindu labourer, he renamed her as per his religion. Pappu was raping the juvenile girl for over a year. On October 25, 2022, Hassan’s daughter-in-law witnessed him sexually abusing the girl at their house.
Upon receiving information about the matter, a social worker in Quarsi named Mohan Chauhan lodged a complaint against Mohammad Hassan. Following this, a medical examination of the victim was conducted. On the basis of Chauhan’s complaint, Mohammad Hassan was booked under IPC section 354 (assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on October 26, 2022.
During the hearing, the court convicted the accused Mohammad Hassan, and sentenced him to 20 years in prison and a Rs 50,000 fine based on the evidence and testimony of the female child. Out of the fine, the court ordered that Rs 40,000 be given to the victim. It is worth noting that the charge sheet in the case was submitted on April 4, 2023. On May 15, the court convicted the rape accused within 16 dates (41 days).
Government Counsel Mahesh Singh said that the convict failed to furnish any documentary evidence to establish when and how the girl was adopted by him. He added that the police tried to trace the victim’s family but failed to do so. Singh also said that the court on the basis of the victim’s testimony had added IPC section 376 (rape) against the accused. Mohammad Hassan was acquitted under 354 and sentenced 20 years jail term on the rape charge.
