By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, March 23: The High Court of Meghalaya on Wednesday upheld the verdict of the POCSO court which had sentenced former Meghalaya police officer, Nurul Islam, to life imprisonment on charges of raping two minors in Ampati, South West Garo Hills, in March 2013.
Besides getting life, the former cop was fined Rs 8 lakh by the POCSO court last year. The High Court, while hearing the appeal against the POCSO court’s verdict, said that “the impugned judgment dated March 24, 2022, and the resultant sentence pronounced on March 28, 2022, do not call for any interference.”
The High Court stated that the two features stand out and go some distance in establishing the appellant’s mental state and possible guilt. “Here was a police officer who ran away from the law and had to be hunted out. A prudent person claiming innocence, in such circumstances, would scarcely have behaved in such manner, far less a police officer,” the court added.
Further, the appellant has attempted to play the religion card, it said.
In the backdrop of the appellant not leading any defence to demonstrate that either his department or the local community bore any grudge against him, the appellant’s conduct in such regard is like the devil citing the scriptures and an act of utter desperation in the absence of any defence, the high court stated.
“Considering the circumstances and the office that the appellant held, the appropriate punishment has been awarded,” the court ruled.
