The Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Court (POCSO) in Uttar Pradesh’s Banda district on Friday awarded the death penalty to two accused, Rambhawan and his wife Durgawati, for multiple violations of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the POCSO statute.
As reported by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the trial court further directed the state to provide compensation ₹10 million for each victim involved. Besides, the judge ordered that the currency seized from the residence of the convicted couple be distributed equally among the victims, according to a formal statement by the CBI.
The CBI opened the case on 31 October 2020 and targeted Rambhawan and several unidentified accomplices following the child’s allegations sexual exploitationthe use of minors in pornography and the production and distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) across digital platforms.
“The rarest of rare crimes”
“During the investigation of the case, it emerged that the accused had committed various forms of perversion, including aggravated penetrative sexual assaults on 33 young boys, some as young as three years old,” the statement said.
“Investigations also revealed that some of the victims suffered injuries to their private parts during the penetrative sexual assault. Some of them remained hospitalized. Several victims developed squints. The victims are still suffering from the psychological trauma caused by the predators,” it continues.
These predators operated in the Banda and Chitrakoot areas of Uttar Pradesh for a period of ten years, from 2010 to 2020. At that time, Rambhawan held the position of a junior engineer in the irrigation department. The accused used various strategies to manipulate the children, such as providing access to digital games or offering cash and gifts to lure them.
According to the CBI, the investigation was conducted with high sensitivity towards minor sacrifices prioritizing their mental health through professional counseling services during their terminations. After the investigation was over, the CBI filed a charge sheet against the pair on 10 October 2021. Formal charges were later set for May 26, 2023.
In handing down the maximum statutory sentence, the court categorized the defendants’ actions as “the rarest of the rare” due to the unparalleled depravity and organized structure of their crimes, which included the calculated sexual victimization of 33 young children.
According to the CBI, the sheer scale of this abuse in several districts, coupled with the deep moral corruption of the perpetrators, distinguishes it as a crime of such extraordinary and horrific proportions that rehabilitation is impossible, requiring the ultimate judicial sanction to ensure that justice is done.
