Man convicted of raping stepdaughter confesses HIV and receives life sentence in Kolkata

KOLKATA: The confession of a man convicted of raping his minor stepdaughter, who also revealed he was HIV-positive, prompted a Bankshall Court judge to sentence him to life in prison.

His confession “increased the intensity and the gravity of his offence.”The confession came last Saturday at the end of three years and three months of trial when Pocso Judge Papiya Das was hearing out the 31-year-old convict before sentencing him. The day before, the judge convicted Ajay Panja for raping his 14-and-a-half-year-old stepdaughter repeatedly since 2016 and threatening to kill her mother and brother if she spoke about it.Under Pocso, the crime attracts a minimum of 20 years in jail to life behind bars and even the death penalty.

Panja’s lawyers pleaded for minimum punishment on the grounds that a lifetime of incarceration at 31 sealed any chance of reformation, and the convict deserved a second shot at life. They also pointed out that he did not have any criminal record and, being a footpath dweller, was from a poor socio-economic background.

On Saturday, when Panja appeared in court, the judge asked him, “Are you in a fit state of mind to give a reply before the court?” Panja replied in the affirmative and added, “Ami garib manush. Bou-bachha ache. Ami er aage kono mamlai jorai ni. Jato kam saja deoya jai. Ami HIV-infected. (I am a poor man with a wife and kids. I have never been involved in any criminal case. Be lenient with sentencing. I am HIV-infected).”Panja’s lawyers, Surajit Mondal and Debtanu Dutta, immediately urged the court to sentence him to 20 years in prison, but special public prosecutor Amalendu Chakraborty vehemently opposed this.

“Today, for the first time, the convict disclosed before this court that he is HIV-positive.Therefore, knowing fully well that he is HIV-positive, he committed aggravated penetrative sexual assault on his stepdaughter. The child’s trauma will remain for life, and there is no reason why the convict should be treated with leniency,” Chakraborty said.Judge Das concurred with the argument. “There is no denial that on account of such an offence, the entire future of a young girl has been seriously affected. Moreover, it might not be out of sight that by virtue of such aggravated penetrative sexual assault, the minor victim girl has also been affected with HIV-positive disease, which increased the intensity and gravity of the offence committed by him. This court is not oblivious to the saying that ‘every saint had a past, and every sinner has a future’. But at the same time, this court is of the opinion that if a lenient view is taken against the offence committed, a wrong signal will go to society,” the judge said in her order.Though the child was abused since 2016, she spoke up only after she was sent to the state-run Ashar Alo Girls’ Home after being rescued by CINI Asha in July 2021. Home superintendent Sujata Dey took her to Hare Street police station to lodge a complaint in December 2021. Dey and Hare Street sub-inspector Tanushree Majumdar, the investigating officer, both deposed in court along with the survivor. The court found the survivor’s statement “cogent, consistent, reliable, uniform and trustworthy” and said there was no reason “to discard her evidence.”(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)