E-Paper
Rape accused monk in judicial custody in Jamshedpur
Recording her statement before magistrate Guin, the victim reiterated her allegation of rape against Sujit Maharaj, 45. While the recording was confidential, as per available information, she strongly corroborated her rape charge.
The rape accused monk from the Jamshedpur branch of Bharat Sevashram Sangha (BSS) was on Friday sent to jail. This came after police produced him in a local court under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 4/8 of the Pocso (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act 2012. The 15-year-old victim also recorded her statement before a first-class judicial magistrate on Friday, reiterating her charge of rape against the accused monk.
The monk, named Sujit Maharaj, was accused of “attempt to rape” in the first FIR lodged in the case, on Wednesday evening. The victim’s family had said on Thursday that it was, in fact, rape — they said that the crime took place on Tuesday afternoon in the monk’s room on the BSS premises, in the Sonari locality — and that the FIR had been filed in the way the police had dictated it. They also said that they had asked for a fresh FIR. However, the fresh FIR was not required, since the victim has now recorded her statement in court.
On Friday, Sonari police produced Sujit Maharaj in the court of additional district judge-1 Radhakrishna; from the courtroom, he was sent to judicial custody. “The court also sent the victim to first-class judicial magistrate Sanjibita Guin, for recording her statement under Section 164 of the CrPC,” said Ramesh Narayan Tiwari, additional public prosecutor (APP).
Recording her statement before magistrate Guin, the victim reiterated her allegation of rape against Sujit Maharaj, 45. While the recording was confidential, as per available information, she strongly corroborated her rape charge.
The victim had said in her FIR that the accused took her to his room around 2pm on Tuesday and raped her and threatened to kill her if she told anything to anyone about this. “He gave me samosa, grapes, and then started molesting me despite my resistance. He then raped me by pressing down on my throat and mouth. He also threatened me with dire consequences if I speak up,” read the FIR, a copy of which is with HT.
According to the FIR, she had gone to the ashram on Tuesday afternoon, after a minor dispute with her brother Subhas N Bose and sister-in-law Victoria Bose over cooking. “I was sitting alone near the temple, when Sujit Maharaj came and took me to his room, pretending to console me. I got out of the room around 5pm, when my sister-in-law came into the room [and] was rebuked by Sujit Maharaj for scolding me. He also gave a shirt and a T-shirt to my sister-in-law,” read the victim’s FIR.
East Singhbhum district Child Welfare Committee (CWC) member Alok Bhaskar was present during the proceedings. “Now that her statement has been recorded in the court, we’ve completed all the legal formalities and handed her over to her family,” Bhaskar told HT.
