Sundargarh: The Sundargarh Special POCSO Court delivered a significant verdict on Tuesday, sentencing one Tarun Goud to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) for raping a minor girl in 2023 and the subsequent viral circulation of the video of the crime.
Goud, from the Hemgir police station area, was also fined ₹10,000, with the court ordering an additional year in jail should he fail to pay.
According to details of the case, harrowing sequence of events began on the morning of January 5, 2023. The minor victim had gone to a field near her village when Tarun Goud forcibly took her and raped her. He compounded the trauma by threatening to kill her if she revealed the assault to anyone, leaving her terrified into silence.
Months later, Goud escalated his abuse. Exploiting a video he had secretly recorded during the rape, he threatened the minor that he would make it go viral. Despite her desperate pleas, Goud carried out his threat, uploading the video to social media on March 15, 2023.
Faced with this public violation, the minor found the courage to approach the Hemgir police station on March 19, 2023, and filed a formal complaint.
Police swiftly registered a case under Section 376(1) (rape), Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC, relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and provisions of the IT Act pertaining to the circulation of explicit material. Goud was arrested and remanded to judicial custody.
Following a thorough trial based on witness testimonies and the police investigation report, the Special POCSO Court found Tarun Goud guilty.
In addition to the prison sentence and fine, the court directed the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) to provide the victim with compensation of ₹7 lakhs.
