Juvenile who sodomised, murdered boy, gets lifer

Hyderabad: In a first such case under the POCSO Act, a 17-year-old was sentenced to rigorous life imprisonment for the rape and murder of a 10-year-old boy in the city. The judgment of special POCSO court judge  Kunchala Suneetha came a day before the victim’s death anniversary.

Additional public prosecutor K. Pratap Reddy, who conducted the prosecution, said, “This is the first time a juvenile who was in conflict with the law was awarded with rigorous life imprisonment in a POCSO case. He said there was another case where two juveniles were sentenced to life in jail but that was for murder.”

On June 29, 2017, the Chandrayangutta police received a complaint about the victim, a Class 4 student, going missing from his home. After searching the area, his father approached the police.

During their investigation, the police found CCTV footage recorded near Badi Masjid, Barkas, which showed the boy going with the juvenile. The 17-year-old was previously in  in conflict with the law. An apprehension memo was issued against the juvenile after informing his family.

The juvenile confessed that he had kidnapped the boy and performed unnatural sex with him on the terrace of the Government High School, Barkas, and killed him. The juvenile led the police to the boy’s body. Special POCSO court judge Kunchala Suneetha, First Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge, convicted the accused and sentenced him to undergo rigorous life imprisonment under the POCSO Act along with a fine of `1,000.

Apart from the POCSO Act punishment, the victim was convicted under several sections, including 10 years under IPC Section 364 (kidnapping) 10 years under 377 (unnatural sex), seven years under Section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence, or giving false information) and life imprisonment for murder. The punishment term would run concurrently.

The court opined that the offence committed by the accused was grave and heinous in nature and a lenient  view cannot be taken against him.

Probe officer gets Rs 20k reward for cracking case

Hyderabad police commissioner Anjani Kumar  on Thursday announced a cash reward of Rs 20,000 for the investigating officer who cracked the case of a missing boy. His investigation  resulted in the conviction of a juvenile to life imprisonment under the amended Juvenile Justice Act. The officer found that the juvenile had taken the boy with him, raped him and murdered him by hitting him on the head with an iron pipe.

Mr Anjani Kumar  Court papers show the case was investigated by sub-inspector S. Krushnaiah and inspector Y. Prakash Reddy.