Private Tutor Gets 10-Year Rigorous Imprisonment For Sexually Abusing Minor Boy In Assam

A private tutor has been sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and fined for sexually abusing a minor boy in Assam.

A private tutor has been sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and fined for sexually abusing a minor boy in Assam.

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Guwahati: An Assam court has sentenced a private tutor, Manish Sikdar, to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of 20,000 on him for sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy. He was also sentenced to an additional three months of imprisonment if he failed to pay the fine. The convict was privately teaching the minor victim.

An FIR was lodged by a child rights group at the Jalukbari police station in Guwahati which stated that in April 2018, the boy was enrolled for tuition classes with Manish Sikdar, a resident of Ganga Niwas, Shankardev Housing Society in Guwahati. On September 13, 2018, his father was informed about the sexual abuse by one Anil Bharali over a call. Since he was out of the state then, he asked his wife to speak with their son and find out what happened. On being asked, the boy told his mother that he was sexually assaulted repeatedly by his tutor for over six months and was ashamed to disclose the matter to anyone.

Based on the FIR, the Jalukbari police registered a case under the Pocso Act on October 8, 2018, and on completion of the investigation, the police submitted the chargesheet to the special court on May 11, 2019. The special court finally passed its judgment after five years.

“In the case, there was a teacher-student relationship between the accused person and the student. There was the element of 'trust' as it is always assumed that a student is always safe with his teacher. The trust in the present case was to such extent that the victim boy or his parents never doubted the teacher even though the victim boy was called separately and alone to attend his classes. Moreover the evidence in record clearly depicts the manner in which the victim boy was subjected to penetrative sexual assault by his teacher,” the court order read.

“The incident which took place in the tender age of the victim boy may have some effect in his future life and so it is very essential that some economic support may be given to the victim boy so that he may not face any difficulty and lead a healthy and stable life without any financial constraint," the court said it its order.

Speaking on the case with ABP Live, child rights activist Miguel Das Queah said, “This was the first child sexual abuse case handled by us where the victim was a male child. Boys hardly report cases of sexual violence and therefore this case was very important to us. The investigating officer Nilima Boro did a fantastic job and the special public prosecutor made sure that the entire trial was fair. I am happy for the child. I hope this victory encourages more boys to report incidents of sexual abuse that they have suffered, and we would be more than willing to help them in their journeys for justice.”

In another case, the same court convicted one Naren Deka and sentenced him to 25 years of rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 5,000 and imprisonment for another three months in case the fine was not paid for sexually assaulting a three-year-old girl. Deka was convicted in connection with a case registered at Guwahati’s Fatasil Ambari police station case.