Shillong, May 22: A man had an appeal against his conviction for aggravated penetrative sexual assault on a nine-year-old neighbour was dismissed by the Meghalaya High Court today.
The man, Saddam Hussain, had been convicted by a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court in May 2023 but challenged the ruling by claiming that the survivor was between 10 to 12 years old at the time of the incident in 2018.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Wanlura Diengdoh, however, found that the birth certificate supplied by a witness confirmed the girl’s age as nine, with no challenge raised during cross-examination.
The appeal was dismissed and the sentence of the lower court confirmed – Hussain had been given 14 years’ rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 10,000.
