Shillong: The High Court of Meghalaya cut a prison sentence for a Nongpoh man on November 12. Anthony Kharbani will now serve 25 years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting his minor daughter. Justice Wanlura Diengdoh and Justice Biswadeep Bhattacharjee issued the ruling. They kept the original conviction under the POCSO Act intact.
A special court in Nongpoh initially sentenced Kharbani to life in prison in June 2021. He also faced a Rs 10,000 fine. The case began on January 26, 2019. The survivor, 13 at the time, told her grandparents about the four-year cycle of abuse. The last assault occurred in November 2018. Police arrested the father on January 27, 2019, following an FIR filed at the Women Police Station in Nongpoh.
Defense attorneys attacked the survivor's testimony during the appeal. They cited missing FSL reports and disputed the timeline of the crimes. They also claimed the trial court wrongly applied 2019 legal amendments to older offenses. The state countered with medical proof, specifically a ruptured hymen. They argued the victim's account matched the physical evidence perfectly. The bench relied on the victim's birth certificate from April 19, 2006, to establish her age during the four-year ordeal.
Judges ultimately rejected the defense challenge. They found the survivor’s testimony remained unshaken. The court cited the father's position and the repetitive nature of the crimes as factors under Section 5 of the POCSO Act. Yet, the court found the life term too severe given the man's background.
The justices emphasized the need for balance. “One of the cardinal principles of the sentencing policy is ‘reformation’,” the court observed. The court kept the Rs 10,000 fine and the three-month default sentence in place alongside the new 25-year term.
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