Tripura hostel warden gets 20 years in jail for sexually assaulting minor

A hostel warden on Saturday was awarded 20 years of rigorous imprisonment by a local court for sexually assaulting a minor student of a school in North Tripura district.A North Tripura court sentenced a hostel warden to 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment for repeatedly sexually assaulting a 12-year-old schoolgirl.The court convicted him under Section 376(3) (rape of a minor under 16) and Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and Section 4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.The court also pronounced three years of rigorous imprisonment under Section 506 of the IPC and imposed a fine of ₹10,000 under Section 4 of the POCSO Act, failing which he would undergo an additional six months of simple imprisonment.Police said that the convict sexually assaulted the 12-year-old girl several times and also used to threaten her since September 2022. The rape survivor fled the hostel on November 12, 2022, and returned home a day after the convict again sexually assaulted her.She later narrated the entire incident to her guardian on November 21. A case was subsequently registered on the same date, and the convict was arrested.The police, after investigation, filed a chargesheet against him on March 14, 2023. After the trial, the court found him guilty and sentenced him accordingly.