19-year-old gets life imprisonment till last breath for gangrape of minor

Time of India

23-07-2025

Surat: A 19-year-old man was sentenced to life imprisonment till last breath for the gangrape of a 15-year-old girl by a special court for the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in Dharampur of Valsad.
The convict and and a 15-year-old boy had raped the minor in the bathroom of a school . The cases against the minor accused are being heard by the Juvenile Justice Board.
Special POCSO court Judge M A Mirza found him guilty of gangrape, wrongful restraint, kdnapping, and
POCSO Act
sections of penetrative sexual assault, gang penetrative sexual assault on a child), aggravated penetrative sexual assault and others.
On Aug 24 last year, the accused and his friend kidnapped the minor on a motorcycle when she was returning from a grocery shop near her home in a village of Dharampur taluka.
They took her to a nearby Ashram Shala school building and raped her in the bathroom. The school was closed due to a holiday.
Meanwhile, a boy from the village came to the survivor's home and informed her father about kidnapping. The father went in that direction and found the two boys coming out of the school and running towards a hill. The minor was found in the bathroom with severe injuries. Her parents found a motorcycle and a mobile phone of the accused at the spot.
The two were arrested after a few days.
The court ordered Rs 6 lakh compensation to the survivor under the Gujarat Victim Compensation Scheme.
At the same time, the ordered action against the medical officer of Valsad GMERS hospital, Dr Tanmay Patel, who submitted in court that the bleeding from the private part of the survivor was due to the menstrual cycle. "The court questioned Dr Patel to explain the characteristics of menstrual blood if the bleeding of the survivor matched.
The survivor was not wearing a sanitary pad as well," said Anil Tripathi, district government pleader, Valsad.
"It transpires from the records that Dr Tanmay was negligent in performing his duty. Despite the survivor describing the history of the crime to him, he claimed the bleeding from the private part of the minor was of the menstrual cycle without any verification or investigation using scientific methods. It is found to be opposite to the other evidence of the medical officer," the court observed.
The Supreme Court and the law have mentioned the required sensitivity and diligence in such cases from medical officers. Despite that, Dr Tanmay submitted opposite evidence to the facts of the crime in the court. "The court takes serious note of the behaviour of Dr Tanmay Patel. The court directs that he should be given training, actions should be taken against him, and his clarification should be asked so that such a thing is not repeated, the court stated in the order.