Repeat child sex offender to die in jail

Surat: A special Pocso court in Vapi on Saturday sentenced a repeat child sex offender to imprisonment till his last breath, for aggravated penetrative sexual assault on a 10-year-old boy, delivering one of the harshest punishments under the Act.

The special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act court in Vapi town of Valsad district sentenced a the 27-year-old convict to life imprisonment and fined him Rs 20,000 for the March 2024 crime. It also directed the govt to pay Rs 2 lakh as compensation to the victim.

Special Pocso judge H N Vakil convicted Balaji alias Momiya Sanjay Patel, holding him guilty of sexually assaulting the minor and awarding the maximum punishment under the Act.

According to the prosecution, the crime was perpetrated on the morning of March 31, 2024, when the boy went to play at a relative’s house nearby. He returned home in the afternoon in a distressed state, crying. When family members asked him what had happened, he said Patel had subjected him to sodomy and other sexual assault.

The boy was rescued after he shouted for help, alerting women in neighbouring houses, who intervened and freed him from the accused’s clutches. The survivor later told his family that Patel had forcibly taken him into his rented room. When relatives went to the spot, neighbours confirmed seeing the boy there, and a woman confirmed rescuing him. The family then approached police and lodged an FIR at Dungra police station.

“The convict has a history of sexual assault on minor children. Further, in this case, there was no scientific evidence, but the court convicted the accused based on the survivor’s statement and the statement of the woman who rescued him from the convict’s premises,” said Anil Tripathi, district govt pleader.

The trial court was informed of Patel’s past criminal record. He had been booked in Sep 2018 for molesting a six-year-old girl and was in jail for three years and five months. That offence was also registered at Dungra police station.