A 24-year-old man from Assam’s Cachar district has been sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment for raping a 14-year-old girl in June last year.
According to police, the incident took place in June 2024 when the accused, identified as Enamul Haque Laskar, an autorickshaw driver, allegedly kidnapped the minor from her home and raped her inside his vehicle near a tea garden.
The girl was later found near the garden, and based on a complaint filed by her family, a case was registered at Udharbond Police Station under Section 4 (penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Section 363 (kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), now Section 137(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Police arrested Enamul soon after the incident. His bail petitions were rejected several times by the court, officials at Udharbond Police Station confirmed. They added that the case was chargesheeted within 90 days and taken up for hearing in a fast-track court.
After multiple hearings, the Special POCSO Court of Cachar, presided over by Judge Narayan Kuri, delivered the verdict on Monday.
Enamul Haque Laskar was sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and fined ₹20,000 under the POCSO Act. Additionally, he was awarded three years’ imprisonment under Section 363 of the IPC along with a fine of ₹5,000. Failure to pay the fines would extend his sentence by another seven months, the court ruled.
The victim’s family expressed relief and satisfaction after the verdict, saying they were grateful for timely justice.
“We are poor tea garden workers and don’t have the means to fight long cases. The way police and the court handled this matter seriously and delivered justice on time, we consider this true justice,” a family member said.
In August 2024, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had urged lawyers not to defend the accused in crimes against women, especially under the POCSO Act. He said that delays in trials often erode public faith in the judiciary and lead to rising instances of mob justice.
On September 25 this year, a 35-year-old man, one of four accused in the alleged rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl, was allegedly beaten to death by a mob in Dibrugarh district, underscoring growing anger over crimes against minors in the state.
