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Courts Hand Down Severe Sentences in Child Sex Cases as Police Probe New Attacks

Swift verdicts alongside fresh probes signal tougher use of India’s child-protection law.

Overview

  • In Prayagraj, a POCSO court on Monday sentenced Mukesh Patel to death for the 2024 rape and murder of an eight-year-old, citing DNA and CCTV evidence.
  • In Bhubaneswar the same day, a special court gave Ajaya Parida 20 years in prison for the 2020 rape of a 13-year-old and ordered Rs 4 lakh in compensation.
  • In Jharsuguda, a POCSO court sentenced Pankaj Podh to life for raping his four-year-old stepdaughter, while jailing the child’s mother for two years for not reporting the crime.
  • In Berhampur, police say two men drugged and raped a 17-year-old who fled alleged stepfather abuse on March 29, and officers arrested the adults, detained a 15-year-old, and placed the survivor in a child care home after a medical exam.
  • In Maharashtra’s Beed district, police on Tuesday booked a 13-year-old boy under POCSO and the new penal code for allegedly assaulting a two-and-a-half-year-old girl, with the case under investigation.