APOCSO court in Meghalaya on Tuesday confined ex Mawhati legislator and Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) militant, Julius Dorphang to 25 years in jail for the rape of a minor girl.
The decree was pronounced by the Special Judge Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO), FS Sangma in Ri-Bhoi province.
As per Dorphang’s counsel, Kishore Ch Gautam, the verdict would be challenged at the Meghalaya High Court.
“Yeah he has been accused and I will be filing a plea in the Meghalaya High Court. I do not consent with the finding of the trial court,” Advocate Gautam said.
Dorphang, an ex Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council militant, was the organizer and the Chairman of the organization before he submitted before the police in 2007. He later challenged and won the Mawahati assembly election in Ri-Bhoi province in 2013.
Thus, he was blamed of raping a 14-year-old in 2017 when he was still an MLA. Following the accusation of rape, Dorphang fled and was nabbed from Guwahati ISBT. The legislator was caught and booked under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act.
He was boarded at the Nongpoh district jail, but was sanctioned bail on medical grounds from the Meghalaya High Court in 2020 by a single bench
He was recaptured and charged again on August 13 this year and tried at the POCSO court.
( Image Credits : NDTV )
