Kohima: A POCSO court in Nagaland sentenced 66-year-old Ngabu Kent to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment on August 4. He raped a 14-year-old girl in Phentejon BM Village back in 2019. Kent was 59 at the time of the crime. Judge Mezivolu T Therieh convicted him on August 3 after the prosecution proved the case with seven witnesses.
The court hit Kent with a Rs 5,000 fine. He faces another year in prison if he fails to pay. The judge applied Section 376(3) of the Indian Penal Code to ensure the maximum punishment. The court ruled that the "mitigating circumstances advanced on behalf of the convict could not outweigh the gravity of the offence against a child below the age of 16 years."
Officials noted the victim suffered irreversible mental and physical trauma. The judge ordered the state government to pay the victim Rs 1,00,000 under the state’s compensation scheme. The Kohima District Legal Services Authority will oversee the payment process. UBSI Vikuobinuo of the Women Police Station in Kohima led the investigation, while Special Public Prosecutor L. Sashimongla Jamir argued the state's case.
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