Prompt justice was delivered to a six-year-old rape victim of Hapur when a POCSO court pronounced life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1 lakh to the accused barely two months after the unfortunate incident.

Additional district and sessions judge, who is also a designated POCSO judge in Hapur, Beena Narayan, on Monday pronounced the judgment in the rape case dated August in the Garh area of district Hapur. After hearing the pleas of both the sides, the judge announced life imprisonment till death besides a fine of Rs 1 lakh for accused Dalpat (35).

“Despite the fact that the courts remained closed due to Covid 19 pandemic and also later the hearings were disturbed as some court staff also were infected by the virus, the decision has come in this case in two months time only,” said ASP Hapur Sarvesh Mishra.

The ASP said that police pursued the case promptly after its charge sheet was submitted on August 27. Accused Dalpat, a resident of village Mehmoodpur in Gajraula of district Amroha, was arrested on August 14, eight days after the incident was reported.

Recalling the incident the ASP said that the parents of the victim lodged a complaint of her kidnapping at Garh Kotwali of district Hapur on August 6. The girl was playing outside her house in a village when an unidentified motorcycle-borne assailant kidnapped her. After an extensive search by eight teams of police, she was recovered the next day from a field in a critical condition.

The victim was kidnapped when she was playing with other children. The children narrated this incident to the parents of the girl who approached the police. The parents of the girl are poor and work as labourers.

Police immediately started a search and she was spotted at a roadside field next morning in a critical condition. She was immediately rushed to the Primary Health Center in Garh from where she was taken to the Community Health Centre of Hapur. Later, due to her critical condition, the girl was referred to Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial Medical College Hospital where she had to undergo treatment for a long time including a few surgeries.

Meanwhile, a case under section 376AB of IPC and POCSO was registered against an unidentified assailant. The police got prepared a sketch of the accused taking help of the children and other eye-witnesses.

Working on the case, police arrested Dalpat from his village on August 14. Police also recovered his and girl’s clothes based on the information he provided.