Transgender person sent to 20 years in jail for sexually assaulting minor boy

A Mumbai court sentenced a transgender person to 20 years for raping a 14-year-old boy multiple times, emphasizing the victim's trauma and need for justice.

Mumbai: A special court designated under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in Dindoshi sentenced a transgender person to twenty years imprisonment recently for raping a 14-year-old boy multiple times.

Transgender person sent to 20 years in jail for sexually assaulting minor boy

According to the prosecution, the incident first took place on November 19, 2021, when the boy was playing outside his house after his mother had gone out for work. The accused took the minor inside his room and raped him, as per the FIR. The accused asked the boy to not disclose the matter to anyone, threatening to kill him, added the prosecution.

The incident surfaced when the boy visited his aunt’s house and confided in his cousin about the assault after she noticed his nervousness and unease and questioned him about it. However, the family did not report the incident at the time. In December 2021, the boy was allegedly molested again, as per the prosecution, prompting him to inform his mother, after which a complaint was lodged at Charkop police station. According to the prosecution, the incident reportedly occurred five to six times between November 19 and December 8 in 2021.

The defence argued that there were inconsistencies in the dates provided by the victim, his mother, and the aunt’s daughter, to whom the boy initially disclosed the incident. Furthermore, they contended that the accused had been falsely implicated in the case.

The court observed that “the victim had no reason to implicate the accused in the case,” rejecting the claim of false implication by the accused, while adding that the defence has not brought out any previous enmity on record as well to prove the same.

The court found the accused guilty of offence punishable under section 377 of IPC and under the POCSO Act, while observing, “It has come on record that accused had carnal intercourse against the order of nature on the victim and thus he is liable to be convicted for the offence punishable under Section 377 of the IPC. So also, the accused is guilty of offence as per Section 3(a) punishable under Section 4 of the POCSO Act.”

Stating that the provisions of the POCSO Act would have an overriding effect since section 377 IPC is not covered under POCSO Act, the special sessions judge Nandkishore More said, “Therefore, taking aid of Section 42-A of POCSO Act in my humble judgement, accused has to be awarded sentence under Section 4 of the POCSO Act instead of awarding him sentence under Section 377 of IPC.”

The defence requested the court to show leniency, while observing that the accused is a young person, and an opportunity should be given for reformation. “One cannot imagine the trauma and humiliation suffered by the victim and his family due to the shameful act committed by the accused”, said the court, in a detailed order passed on October 23. Sentencing the accused to twenty years of rigorous imprisonment, the court said, “It is proved that the accused had committed an unnatural offence upon a boy of 14 years which implies sexual perversity, it could not be ignored that the accused is 23 years of age and is not a previous convict, therefore considering the age of accused, in my humble judgement, following sentence would meet the ends of justice.”