'Rarest of rare': UP court sentences couple to death for decade long sexual exploitation of 33 children

New Delhi: A special court in Uttar Pradesh's Banda on Friday sentenced a former junior engineer of the Irrigation Department and his wife to death for the sexual exploitation of 33 minor boys -- some as young as three -- over a decade, officials said.

The POCSO court termed the crimes as "rarest of rare" and held Ram Bhawan and his wife Durgawati guilty of systematically abusing children between 2010 and 2020 and producing child sexual abuse material.

Convicting the duo under provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the court sentenced them to death for offences including aggravated penetrative sexual assault, using a child for pornographic purposes, storage of pornographic material involving children, and abetment and criminal conspiracy, they said.

In a statement, the CBI said that the trial court also directed the Uttar Pradesh government to pay Rs 10 lakh in compensation to each of the 33 victims.

"The court further ordered to distribute the cash amount seized from the house of the accused among the victims in equal proportion," the agency said.

The court termed the crimes as "rarest of rare" on the basis of unparalleled depravity and systemic nature of their crimes.

"The sheer scale of this victimisation across multiple districts, combined with the extreme moral turpitude of the convicts, marks this as a crime of such an exceptional and heinous nature that it leaves no room for reformation, necessitating the ultimate judicial deterrent to meet the ends of justice," the CBI spokesperson said, citing the order.

Ram Bhawan was booked by the CBI on October 31, 2020, along with other accused, on the allegations of sexual abuse of children; using children for pornographic purposes; and creation and dissemination of Child Sexual Abuse Material over the Internet.

"During the investigation of the case, it surfaced that the accused persons had committed various forms of perversity, including aggravated penetrative sexual assaults against 33 male children, some of them as young as three years of age," the spokesperson said.

She said the investigation also revealed that some of the victims had suffered injuries to their private parts during penetrative sexual assault.

"Some of them have remained admitted in the hospital. A few of the victims developed a squint eye. Victims are still suffering from psychological trauma caused by the predators," she said.

The sexual predators remained active in the general area of Banda and Chitrakoot in Uttar Pradesh between 2010 and 2020, she said.

"Ram Bhawan used to apply different forms of modus operandi on children, including access to online video-games and giving money/gifts to allure them," she said.

He got exposed by the CBI while it was monitoring CSAM (child sexual abuse material) content on the internet.

The investigation remained sensitive towards the minor victims while conducting their examinations and ensured their emotional well-being through counselling.

"During the investigation, seamless coordination was ensured with forensic experts, medical experts dealing with child sexual abuse cases and child protection authorities. Investigation also ensured handling and preservation of digital evidence," she said.

Within months of taking up the case, the CBI filed a charge sheet against Ram Bhawan and his wife on February 10, 2021.

Ram Bhawan was booked by the CBI on October 31, 2020, along with other accused, on the allegations of sexual abuse of children; using children for pornographic purposes; and creation and dissemination of Child Sexual Abuse Material over the Internet.