In a major judgment in the widely discussed 2020 child pornography case, a POCSO court in Uttar Pradesh's Banda district has sentenced Junior Engineer Ram Bhavan and his wife Durgavati to death for sexually assaulting more than 50 children and selling videos of the crime on the dark web. Ther horrific case came to light after Interpol alerted the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) about such videos being sold online.
The 160 page verdict also directs the state government to pay Rs 10 lakh each as compensation to the affected children.
Ram Bhavan was convicted of sexually abusing more than 50 children and recording videos of the abuse, which were allegedly sold abroad trhogh dark web.
How the crimes came to light
The case came to light in 2020 after the Central Bureau of Investigation received information through Interpol regarding the circulation of child sexual abuse material.
The CBI registered a case on October 30, 2020. During the investigation, Ram Bhavan, who was posted as a junior engineer in the irrigation department in Chitrakoot, was arrested on November 16, 2020. Subsequently, his wife Durgavati was arrested in Chitrakoot on December 28, 2020, in connection with allegations of threatening witnesses in the case.
Since their arrests, both accused have been lodged inthe Banda divisional jail. Ram Bhavan is originally a resident of Naraini town in Banda district.
In its judgment, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court held both accused guilty of the heinous offences and awarded them the death penalty. The court also ordered the government to provide Rs 10 lakh compensation to each of the victim children.
During the trial, the CBI examined 74 witnesses before the court.
Reported by Pankaj Dwivedi
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