Meghalaya HC Refuses To Entertain Ex-MLA's Plea Against His 25 Years Sentence For Raping Minor Girl

Meghalaya HC has refused to interfere with a trial court order that sentenced the former MLA Julius Dorphang to 25 years imprisonment for raping a minor girl.

The Meghalaya High Court on Thursday refused to interfere with a trial court order that sentenced the former MLA Julius Dorphang to 25 years imprisonment for raping a minor girl, reported PTI. 

The High Court also directed the state government to provide a compensation of Rs 20 lakh investment to the victim within three months. The bench was headed by Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee. 

"The term of imprisonment of 25 years as awarded by the trial court by indicating cogent reasons therefore, does not call for any interference," the high court bench said in its judgment while dismissing the appeal filed by the former MLA, PTI reported. 

The judgement further said, "Considering the age of the convict, such a tenure could be 15 years or 20 years or 30 years or any number of years in between. The discretion that is exercised is for the benefit of the convict by not awarding the maximum sentence permissible." 

The HC bench further ordered that the state should take care of all the medical needs of the survivor free of cost befitting a Grade-II officer for the next 20 years. It said that besides this, the victim should be provided with some late education programme for women to ensure that she leads a normal and healthy life. 

POCSO Special Judge FS Sangma in Ri-Bhoi district had earlier sentenced Dorphang to 25 years imprisonment in August 2021 along with a fine. The leader challeneged the order in the high court. 

Dorphang, founder and chairman of the outlawed Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council had surrendered before the police in 2007. However, he later contested the assembly elections from the Mawahati assembly election in Ri-Bhoi district in 2013 and won. 

Then in 2017, he was charged with raping a 14-year-old girl while he was a sitting MLA. Dorphang booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act. He was put in the Nongpoh district jail but was released later when the Meghalaya High Court had granted him bail on medical grounds in 2020. 

He was again arrested after the POCSO court convicted him in August 2021.